Sandy Brondello’s Hire Is Rare for WNBA Expansion Team Tempo

It didn’t take long for Sandy Brondello to get a new job.

In September, the Liberty chose to not renew head coach Brondello’s contract after a first-round playoff exit, despite the Australia-native leading the team to the 2024 WNBA title. On Wednesday, Howard Megdal of The IX Basketball reported that Brondello was expected to become the first head coach of the WNBA expansion team Toronto Tempo; a source confirmed Brondello’s hire to Front Office Sports on Thursday.

The Tempo will begin play in 2026 alongside the Portland Fire. A week ago, the Fire hired Cavaliers assistant Alex Sarama to be its first head coach. 

Brondello is one of the most successful coaches in WNBA history. In her 13 seasons as a head coach, she made the playoffs every year, plus won the 2014 WNBA title with the Mercury in addition to her 2024 championship with the Liberty. 

Her hire marks the first time in 33 years that an expansion team in MLB, NHL, NBA, NFL, or WNBA has had a coach in its inaugural season who is just a few years removed from winning a championship. 

In 1992, the Tampa Bay Lightning hired Terry Crisp to be the first coach in franchise history. Crisp was three years removed from leading the Calgary Flames to the 1989 Stanley Cup title. But Crisp’s success never followed him into U.S. territory: He made the playoffs just once in five seasons, and was fired 11 games into his sixth campaign. 

In basketball, it’s been since 1980, when the Dallas Mavericks hired Dick Motta to become the team’s inaugural coach. Two years earlier, Motta had coached the Washington Bullets (now Wizards) to the 1978 NBA championship behind Wes Unseld. 

Baseball has to go back even farther. In 1962, the New York Mets hired former Yankee manager Casey Stengel to be the team’s first skipper. Stengel was 73 and had led the Yankees to seven World Series titles as a manager, with his last coming in 1958. 

For Brondello’s sake, hopefully her first season in Toronto goes better than Stengel’s. The 1962 Mets went just 40–120, setting an MLB record for regular season losses, which it held for 62 years until the Chicago White Sox lost 121 games last year.