Coach of the Year winners usually fall into one, or multiple, of a few categories:
- Coaches that lead a team to a dominant, league-leading record
- New coaches that improve drastically upon a previous year’s win percentage
- Coaches that take a roster that’s generally perceived as sub-par to an impressive playoff seeding.
With those tendencies in mind, which WNBA head coaches are the frontrunners to be named the 2025 Coach of the Year?
Stephanie White (Indiana Fever)
The Indiana Fever made noise this offseason after firing Christie Sides and poaching Stephanie White, who coached the Fever from 2015 to 2016, from the Connecticut Sun. White will be gaining an abundance of talent compared to the scraps left in Mohegan Sun, and could possibly check off two boxes in her candidacy for Coach of the Year. She is, and should be, the favorite for the award.
It’s not everyday that a well-established coach finds a new team with well-established talent, and the two make for quite a concoction. Not only could White improve significantly upon the Fever’s .500 record last season, she could very well lead the team to a top three-seed in the league—a feat that not many coaches accomplish in their first year with a team. She’ll be greatly assisted by the growth of Fever stars Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston, as well as the familiar face of DeWanna Bonner and the new additions of Natasha Howard and Sophie Cunningham (who may be sidelined at the beginning of the season after sustaining a foot injury on Saturday). If the beginning of White’s tenure plays out as expected, it will be hard to outpace her for the award.
Becky Hammon (Las Vegas Aces)
Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Becky Hammon is no stranger to hardware, having won two championships and one Coach of the Year award in her three seasons as a WNBA head coach.
After a 13-loss down year for the Aces in 2025, Hammon has retooled her roster to take another stab at a championship. Jewell Loyd is taking the place of Kelsey Plum, and as much as has been made about Loyd’s offensive profile, Hammon may be happiest about her defensive capabilities in comparison to Plum’s skillset. If you’ve ever tuned into a Becky Hammon postgame interview, you know how much she cares about defense. Hammon will probably need the Aces to eclipse 30 wins this year to be a true frontrunner for the award, but you can never count her out.
Sandy Brondello (New York Liberty)
Sandy Brondello, like Hammon, will be banking on a historic season as the backbone of her award resume. If she’s just like Hammon, she might be in for a treat. Although Hammon didn’t win Coach of the Year for Las Vegas’ first post-championship season, she set a WNBA record with 34 regular-season wins.
Coming off the first championship in franchise history, the Liberty will be looking to make their mark with some regular-season history. After acquiring Natasha Cloud and returning Marine Johannès to bolster their backcourt, they could very well improve upon last year’s 32 wins. Brondello won the award over a decade ago after a championship campaign in Phoenix, and may add another to her trophy case pending the Liberty’s success.
Karl Smesko (Atlanta Dream)
“Smesko-ball” is alive in Atlanta. Karl Smesko, the former head coach of FGCU who won 15 conference championships, 479 games (compared to only 91 losses) and 13 A-Sun Coach of the Year Awards in his 18 years as a college coach, is bringing his patented offensive strategy with him to the Dream: 3s, 3s and more 3s.
I wanted to include one “dark horse” candidate for the award, and a notable improvement upon the Dream’s 15-25 record seems not only possible, but likely. They were bottom three in the WNBA in 3-point attempts, makes and percentage last year, finishing last in the league in points per game. Over their two preseason games, the Dream are attempting almost 38 3s per game, 18 more than last season. 38 3s a night would also clear last year’s league-leading shooting team, the Liberty, who attempted 29 per game.
Smesko has an identity, a talented roster and a canvas to improve greatly upon last year’s win total. If things start to click in Atlanta, Smesko could work his way into the Coach of the Year conversation quickly. If you’re looking to bank on one of the rookie head coaches, he might be your best bet.
