Reports: Toronto Tempo expected to name Sandy Brondello first coach

Former New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello watches during the first half of a WNBA All-Star basketball game against Team Collier, Saturday, July 19, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

The Toronto Tempo are expected to name veteran WNBA coach Sandy Brondello as their first head coach in team history, multiple outlets reported Wednesday.

Brondello brings an impressive pedigree to the fledgling franchise. She won a title with the Phoenix Mercury in 2014 and the New York Liberty in 2024, and she’s the winningest coach in both franchises’ histories. Overall, the Australian bench boss has a career regular-season record of 271-181 and a playoff mark of 40-32.

Brondello is coming off a four-season stint with the Liberty. She led the club to back-to-back finals appearances in 2023 and 2024, but the two sides parted ways last month after New York suffered a first-round loss to the Phoenix Mercury.

“It has been a privilege to have coached the NY Liberty these last four years,” Brondello said after her Liberty tenure ended. “Bringing the first-ever championship to New York will always be the most amazing feeling.”

The expansion Tempo are surely hoping Brondello, 57, will get the chance to experience a similar feeling during her stint in Toronto. Who may help her get there, though, is unclear. The WNBA is not expected to hold an expansion draft for the Tempo and Portland Fire until after an agreement is reached on a new collective bargaining agreement.

In addition to Brondello’s coaching experience, she also played in the WNBA for three teams across five seasons from 1998-2003. She and Toronto general manager Monica Wright Rogers, who played from 2010-16, are the only coach-GM combination of former WNBA players in the league.

Reuters