CHICAGO — The Chicago Sky are ready to enter a new era — again.
The team introduced Tyler Marsh at Wintrust Arena on Tuesday as the sixth head coach in franchise history, ushering in the latest iteration of the team’s culture after rotating through two head coaches in the last two seasons.
General manager Jeff Pagliocca understood the stakes of this hire. Almost 13 months ago to the day, the Sky were making the same eager introductions for Teresa Weatherspoon, who was fired in late September after a 13-27 debut as a head coach.
With two of the top rookie stars in the 2024 class — and more talent coming through in the draft next spring — the Sky stand at a turning point as they embrace Marsh as their new head coach. But Pagliocca didn’t hold back his confidence in the hire, firmly addressing Sky fans as he introduced Marsh on Tuesday: “I heard you. I felt you. We delivered.”
As a top coaching prospect in the WNBA after three years as a Las Vegas Aces assistant under Becky Hammon, Marsh said he felt unrushed in making the decision to join the Sky. He was eager to make the next step in his career — interviewing with several other WNBA teams outside of the Sky — but also felt prepared to return to the Aces next season if the fit didn’t feel right with any of the existing vacancies.
After several conversations with Pagliocca about the future of the Sky, Marsh felt Chicago was the right place to begin his head coaching career in the WNBA.
“If you know Jeff — he comes in hot,” Marsh said. “He was very intentional about letting me know how bad he wanted me to be part of this organization and that went a long way for me. We connected on our values of how we believe people should be treated, and then that kind of transcended into how we view the game. When you put people first, that makes a lot of difference, and that had a lasting impact on me in this process.”
The hire earned immediate support from players across the Sky roster. Rookies Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso shared their excitement about working with Marsh on social media after the announcement earlier this month. Michaela Onyenwere, Rachel Banham, Moriah Jefferson and Elizabeth Williams flew in for Tuesday’s introductory news conference to show support for their new coach and dive into the process of building through the offseason.
When players were first informed of the new hire, Banham called Sydney Colson — a former Sky player who spent three years with Marsh on the Aces — for her feedback. The response from Colson was positive and echoed by players around the league, who assured Banham and her teammates of Marsh’s basketball IQ and ability to instill discipline and rigor in individual players.
“We’re really excited to have him here,” Williams said. “Obviously he comes in with a lot of experience, but he also comes in with the mindset of creating a certain culture. He’s been intentional about communicating with us. I think the basketball stuff will come but when you’re trying to re-establish what things will look like, I think he’s great for the job.”
Establishing a new team culture will be crucial for Marsh after a tumultuous season under Weatherspoon, who struggled to maintain a cohesive locker room culture throughout the 2024 season.
A disconnect in Weatherspoon’s approach to helming the Sky last year was an overemphasis on the pair of rookie stars that resulted in frustration and a perceived lack of discipline among the rest of the roster, according to a league source.
That approach didn’t work. The system on the court still did little to maximize the strengths of Cardoso and Reese, resulting in diminished rookie outings for both on the offensive end. The imbalance in the roster created a negative atmosphere and the Sky crashed out of playoff contention.
Throughout the coaching search, Pagliocca emphasized hiring a coach who could create a more disciplined and detailed structure for the Sky both on and off the court — a focus that Marsh reiterated on Tuesday.
“I think it’s important to understand though, that even though they’re the cornerstones of this franchise, that championship teams are won 1 through 12,” Marsh said. “Everyone has a huge part to play. Everyone has value. It doesn’t matter how many minutes you play. That’s what we want to create here with Chicago. We want everybody to know their importance, everybody to know their value and how they can contribute to a winning franchise.”
Marsh is an offensive-minded coach who is eager to embrace the shift in the WNBA toward high-scoring, high-octane styles of play. He has an immediate focus for the Sky to improve upon this winter and in the 2025 season — shooting.
After taking the fewest 3-point shots in the WNBA last season, the Sky are on track for a major overhaul next year. Pagliocca plans to partially address this need in free agency and the draft, where their focus is acquiring lengthy perimeter players who can space the floor with high-accuracy shooting.
But Marsh is also committed to elevating the current roster’s volume and accuracy from long range, jokingly telling Williams — a center who has taken two shots from behind the arc in her entire 10-year career in the WNBA — that he was even going to ask her to fire off 3-pointers this season.
“It’s only upwards here for the league,” Marsh said. “If you’re one of the last few franchises standing in terms of adapting to where this league is going, you’re behind the gun. We want to set trends. We want to be ahead of the curve. We want to continue to care for our players and put forth the best resources possible so that they’re the most successful in the best versions of themselves that they can be.”
The Sky are not completely overhauling their coaching staff. They will retain assistant coach David Simon and video coordinator Can Ozbalkan, both of whom were present at Tuesday’s news conference. Marsh did not set out a timeline for filling out the rest of his staff but said he aspires to hire “egoless” and “selfless” coaches who can contribute right away.
The sudden firing of Weatherspoon struck a nerve throughout the WNBA last season, particularly due to her prominence as a foundational player in the league. But Marsh told the Chicago Tribune he wasn’t concerned about his status despite the swiftness of Weatherspoon’s departure and did not request assurances on length of tenure before signing with the Sky.
And as he enters his second season as general manager, Pagliocca said the Sky are “committed” to Marsh and aim to provide him with support and resources to ensure a more stable future for the head coach position.
“It’s a very rare combination that you can have someone that excels so much in the player development arena but is actually even more wired to be a head coach,” Pagliocca said. “I think people are going to be very excited to come here and play.”
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