The New York Liberty may cast its net wide to find a new head coach after letting go of Sandy Brondello, including looking at Dawn Staley in the collegiate ranks
13:57 ET, 23 Sep 2025
The New York Liberty stunned the WNBA world on Tuesday when the team decided to part ways with 2024 title-winning coach Sandy Brondello after three seasons together.
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New York started the 2025 campaign strongly, racing to a 9-0 start before injuries to the team’s stars caused the Liberty to slip to fifth in the playoff standings. New York fell to the Phoenix Mercury in a hard-fought three-game first-round series.
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While stars like Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu stressed to the media that they thought Brondello should stay, Liberty management took a different approach. Here are three candidates the 2024 WNBA champions can turn to in their quest to capture the 2026 title with a win-now team.
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Sonia Raman, New York Liberty assistant coach
The former Tufts basketball walk-on started her coaching career as an assistant at Wellesley College before serving as head coach of the MIT basketball team from 2008 to 2020.
Raman was hired by the Memphis Grizzlies and served as an NBA assistant coach until the Liberty hired her ahead of the campaign.
“Sonia has made a huge impression on this group. I love her work ethic. I love her care factor for our guys,” Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said of Ramen. She would become the first WNBA coach of Indian descent.
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Noelle Quinn, former Seattle Storm coach
Quinn was the Storm’s head coach each of the last five seasons, leading the team to the playoffs on four occasions and posting a 97-89 record.
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In recent seasons, New York has shown a tendency to seek out coaches with WNBA coaching experience: the 40-year-old Quinn certainly would check that box.
In 2020, the 12-year WNBA pro served as the top assistant coach as the Storm became league champions.READ MORE: WNBA star who poked Caitlin Clark in the eye suffers injury heartbreakREAD MORE: A’ja Wilson breaks WNBA history as Las Vegas Aces star wins yet another MVP award
Dawn Staley, South Carolina basketball coach
Staley’s name is only being suggested here because the longtime South Carolina coach admitted on Aliyah Boston’s podcast this offseason that she would have taken the vacant New York Knicks coaching job if she were offered it.
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“I would have had to do it. Not just for me. For women. To break (that door) open,” Staley said on the ‘Post Moves’ podcast
This could mean that Staley, a Philadelphia native, is open to a new opportunity. The three-time NCAA champion coach may also be happy with a move to New York. If she wants to move to the WNBA, the Liberty gig would offer her the best chance to win.
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