Sandy Brondello Turned Down Multiple Offers From WNBA Teams Before Accepting Tempo Job

The former Liberty coach reportedly turned down more money from one of the teams, too.

Tempo coach Sandy Brondello also received offers from the Wings and the Storm. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

After shockingly parting ways with the Liberty back in September, Sandy Brondello was named the coach of the WNBA expansion team in Toronto, the Tempo, about a month later. Apparently, a couple other WNBA teams made offers to the coach, but she turned them down in order to start fresh with a new team.

According to Front Office Sports, the Wings and the Storm also made offers to Brondello, with one of those teams offering more money than the Tempo ultimately did, although those exact numbers won’t be released. Brondello’s reasoning to land in Toronto was partially due to how she bonded with the front office there.

“This is the place I wanted to be,” Brondello said during her introductory press conference on Tuesday. “To build a team from the ground up, that really excited me.

“There's a lot of alignment, but in the end, it was about the partnership. I knew of [Tempo general manager] Monica [Wright Rogers], just the person she is, and how she goes about her day-to-day... that was the partnership, the collaboration. It just felt right.”

As for the two teams Brondello reportedly turned down, the Wings already found a replacement for Chris Koclanes, who they fired after just one season. Dallas hired longtime USF women's basketball coach Jose Fernandez the day after the news dropped about Brondello heading to Toronto. The Storm just hired Sonia Raman after they parted ways with Noelle Quinn in September.

The only vacant coaching position left in the WNBA is the Liberty, where Brondello was fired from.

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