The Dallas Wings entered the 2025 season with high hopes– the No. 1 overall pick in Paige Bueckers, a solid roster, and a fired-up new head coach. But the season unraveled quickly, ending with a league-worst 10 wins and another coaching dismissal. For the rookie guard, who thrived for five years under Geno Auriemma’s steady hand at UConn, this kind of turmoil is new. Now, as the Wings search for their seventh coach in ten seasons, Auriemma has a message for the front office on how to finally build a stable, growth-driven environment around their young star.

 As reported by a post on X, Auriemma said at the Big East Media Day:  “I told Paige this the other day: A great player can play for any coach…Now, if they get a coach that doesn’t believe in and doesn’t have a collaboration with Paige, then that would be a difficult journey.

“There are a lot of coaches out there that would be really, really good for [Bueckers]. And she would be good for them. But it’s got to be someone that there’s mutual trust. And I always say, ‘You’ve played one year of professional basketball… Embrace what the pool is, talk to all of them, whoever they are.

“And it’s like recruiting. Recruit the person you want that has the qualities. But at the end of the day, whoever the coach is, you can make it work for them, or you can make it not work for them, provided there’s a good roster around you. So I think the roster is gonna be more important than the coach, even though the coach is crucial, obviously.”

Auriemma’s words carry weight. Beyond being women’s basketball’s all-time winningest coach, he’s seen Bueckers evolve up close— guiding her through highs, setbacks, and UConn’s 12th national championship run (its first since 2016). He knows better than most how to build an ecosystem that allows her to thrive.

At UConn, she never had to worry about turnover. But in Dallas, she’s already seen how chaotic things can be. Despite that, the 23-year-old phenom still flourished, earning Rookie of the Year honors and averaging 19.2 points per game— the highest scoring mark by any UConn rookie in WNBA history. Yet, it’s true that luring high-profile coaches amidst new teams entering the league will not be easy.

And the Wings’ record, plus the fact that they are now looking for their third coach in five years, won’t help at all. However, as Geno warned, you have to “talk to all of them”. 

Also, as history proves, they might be better off doing that, especially after all the nepotism claims that surfaced after Koclanes’ hiring. Per many, he clearly did not have the “qualities”. Notably, Sheryl Swoopes had questioned the hiring without holding anything back.

“So I am not going to put all of the blame on Chris. No. Because Curt Miller, this is your hire. I mean, if the GM goes to someone and says, ‘hey, will you come be my head coach,’ if I really want to coach, I’m not going to say no,” Swoopes had blasted right at Curt Miller, further substantiating that his hiring was not at all about qualifications. “It’s one thing to be buddies, to be friends, to be whatever, and I get it, trying to look out for your homeboy, your homegirl. But this is about wins and losses.”

Well, Koclanes has experience as an assistant at USC and later as a defensive coordinator in the WNBA, but he’s never been in charge of a pro team, not even as the lead assistant. So why was he picked for the Dallas Wings head coach role?

Koclanes and GM Curt Miller have a long history. Their paths first crossed in 2016 when Miller brought Koclanes onto the Connecticut Sun staff as a video coordinator. By 2019, Koclanes had moved up to defensive coordinator, and in 2023, he followed Miller to Los Angeles. Now that Miller was running things in Dallas, he brought Koclanes along again, this time as head coach. But his candidacy seemed weak when fans considered who else was in the mix.

Also interestingly, Koclanes wasn’t a stranger to the Dallas’ centerpiece.  During her UConn years, he worked just a short drive away as the Connecticut Sun’s defensive coordinator between 2019 and 2022 before joining Miller in L.A. That prior proximity only fueled the perception that his Dallas hiring was based more on loyalty than fit. The results, unfortunately, seemed to prove critics right. Dallas ranked second-to-last in defensive efficiency, ahead of only Chicago, exposing how mismatched the system was for its young roster.

Reports suggested that Lisa Leslie was also in contention for the Dallas job. Leslie had also confirmed that she applied for two WNBA positions but didn’t get either. “Maybe you’ve been an assistant coach for 20 years. That doesn’t necessarily mean you will be a better coach than I would be or than Lisa would be or someone who did the things that she did. That one is such a mind-boggling thought to me,” Swoopes had added.

This is the qualification and qualities part that had Swoopes criticizing the front office, and one that has Geno Auriemma warning them.

Now, with PB and another top pick in the 2026 draft, the Wings have the opportunity to change the narrative, to build a foundation for a future title run. Given the stakes, PB should play a key role in the head coach hiring process, as Geno has emphasized.

What are the options for PB as of now?

Ever since Chris’s firing on September 30, the Wings’ hunt has been at its peak-and yes, we have some candidates. To start with, there’s Sandy Brondello, the winningest coach in the WNBA and the former head coach of the New York Liberty. She’s experienced with winning, playing with star players, and leading a championship run.

Then there’s former Atlanta Dream head coach Nicki Collen. The 2018 WNBA Coach of the Year is well known for her stint with the Dream, during which she led the team to a 23-11 record, then-franchise best. Apart from these two, there’s Jose Fernandez, the longtime Florida head coach who was a finalist for the position last offseason, and Dave Joerger, a current assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Joerger has held two NBA head coaching positions-first with the Grizzlies and then with the Sacramento Kings. Then there’s Coby Karl, the son of former NBA head coach George Karl. As of now, Coby is serving as an assistant coach at Boise State. So yes, there’s a lot of talent in the pool.

Will PB and the Wings be able to make a favorable gamble? Stay tuned to know!