The WNBA is still expanding after adding the Golden State Valkyries for the 2025 season, and it will be adding the Toronto Tempo as its newest expansion team in 2026. Now, the Tempo have officially decided who will be leading them in the first season.
The Tempo are going to hire former New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello to be their new coach in 2026, according to Howard Megdal of The IX Basketball.
Brondello has been a successful WNBA head coach at two different stops now, both with the Phoenix Mercury and the Liberty. She won a WNBA title at both stops — in 2014 with Phoenix and 2024 with New York — and has a 271-181 record in 13 seasons.
Brondello was fired by the Liberty at the conclusion of the 2025 season, where New York lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Mercury. The Liberty struggled with injuries all year long, and Brondello was let go at the end of the failed title defense.
There is a lot of hope and optimism around the Tempo coming into the 2026 season after the success that the Valkyries had in year one. Natalie Nakase emerged as one of the best coaches in the WNBA and brought a Golden State team made up almost entirely of expansion draft players to the playoffs. The Valkyries couldn't take down the top seed Minnesota Lynx, but they nearly stole Game 2 and sent it to a decider.
Brondello and her staff will fill out the rest of the roster at some point this offseason, though the rules of the expansion draft won't be finalized until a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is settled on between the league and the players. The current CBA expires on Oct. 31, and a potential lockout is looming.
No matter who ends up playing up north next season, Brondello has proven that she can be a championship-level coach for multiple teams during her storied career. The Tempo are getting a good one by making one of the biggest splashes out there on the coaching market this offseason.
