Sky Coaching Change a Mistake?
Angel Reese’s first WNBA head coach was fired last year after the Chicago Sky failed to make the playoffs in 2024. What appeared to be one of the best hiring moves in franchise history ended up being a one-year stint for a former WNBA player and legend.
Teresa Weatherspoon broke into the WNBA along with Lisa Leslie, Rebecca Lobo and Sheryl Swoopes during the inaugural season in 1997. Playing alongside Lobo, the two were in the league’s first ever WNBA Finals.
Weatherspoon would go on to play in three more Finals with the New York Liberty before signing in 2004 with the Los Angeles Sparks. After being with Louisiana Tech from 2008 to 2014, she took a break from coaching until appearing on the sidelines for the New Orleans Pelicans from 2020 to 2023.
In 2023, the Chicago Sky announced that Emre Vatansever would not return to the team. Enter Teresa Weatherspoon to the podium. With two incoming rookies, the 2021 WNBA Champions appeared to be set up nicely for the future with a strong head coach and young talent to build around.
"I'm the first one to say I was shocked, surprised, hurt," Weatherspoon said, on her firing. "I was all of those things because I didn't see it coming. So I chose just to be quiet. I chose to be silent. I chose to move in my direction and not anyone else's direction. I chose not to speak the way I was spoken about."
Instead, the Sky won five fewer games the next season and watched last year’s postseason tournament from home. Chicago fired Weatherspoon as it came as a shock to many people, including Angel Reese.
Tyler Marsh takes over the reigns for the Chicago Sky
The former Las Vegas Aces assistant coach was highly coveted. He helped fuel a couple of title runs with the likes of Kelsey Plum, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young. Marsh even coached Candace Parker during her last year in the league.
Marsh has the resume and experience of being an elite coach. Not only was he on the Aces coaching staff during the 2022 and 2023 WNBA titles, he was also there for the Aces’ 2022 Commissioner’s Cup title.
Under each Head Coach | Points (per game) | Rebounds (per game) | Assists (per game) | Turnovers (per game) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Teresa Weatherspoon | 77.4 | 36.6 | 19.0 | 13.1 |
Tyler Marsh | 79.5 | 37.0 | 19.8 | 15.6 |
Chicago has not shown patience for any recent coach. Since 2023, the Sky are on their fourth different coach with Marsh. The team has not experienced turnover at this pace since their first three seasons (2006-2008) when they went through three coaches in as many years.
Kamilla Cardoso and Reese being drafted in the first round in 2024 gave Chicago and their fan base hope for the future. However, the Sky enter Monday’s game with a record of 7-13. If the season ended today, they would miss the playoffs again.
Under Marsh’s leadership, Chicago is at the top of the the team rebounding average per game (37.0) while also leading the league with the most turnovers per game average (15.0).
The Sky led the league in rebounding last season with 36.6 boards a game. They ranked dead last in points per game which is only about two points lower than this year. By the same token, their assists and three-point percentage are close to one another between both seasons, too.
So far, Marsh isn’t doing any better than Weatherspoon. Sure, the season-ending injury to Courtney Vandersloot didn’t help matters. The front office may not care though when it looks at whether or not Marsh is the right coach for the job going forward.
My name is Scott Conrad and I am a Contributor for the Chicago Sky with Sports Illustrated.com. I am also a Contributor with FanSided on NinerNoise, as well as Da Windy City. In addition, I am the Site Editor/Expert for The View from Avalon. I spent two seasons (2015 & 2016) with the Tampa Bay Times as a Correspondent covering high school football. I am a two-time published author with more work to come. In my teenage years, I started watching both MLS and WNBA start in 1996 and grow to be the juggernauts they are in their respective sports. Much love to the career on and off the court for fellow-Napervillian and former Sky forward Candace Parker. Outside of the sports journalism world, I am a travel volleyball coach. I accepted the Head Coach position with Greater Cincinnati Volleyball Club for their U13-2 team. In terms of active sports, I play volleyball, soccer, softball, kickball and train in mixed martial arts.