If not Sandy Brondello, then who? This must be the question in the hearts of many WNBA fans and even the New York Liberty players. Despite giving the franchise its first-ever championship win, the front office decided to fire her the very next year. That’s the first time that has even happened in the WNBA. But after all things said and done, the question remains about who will replace Brondello and carry New York forward.

Sure, there are a lot of names in the mix. WNBA fans are pitching the likes of Teresa Weatherspoon, Lisa Leslie, Nola Henry, Noelle Quinn, and Briann January to take up this role. However, none of them is getting a louder cheer than the South Carolina Gamecocks head coach, Dawn Staley. But before these cheers get louder, a WNBA reporter has shot down the notion of Staley taking this role, citing two major reasons.

During the We Need to Talk podcast, Erica Ayala had a strong belief that Staley would not take the place of Sandy Brondello in New York. Her first reason is that Dawn gave her full commitment to the NCAA rather than the professional basketball scene. “Dawn has, in the past, been pretty clear about where her focus is. And that seems to be not just with South Carolina, but with the NCAA,” Ayala said.

Staley has been clear on this stance for years. “There isn’t an ounce of me that has the desire to go to the next level… my passion is for young people,” she said back in 2022, claiming she has no desire to coach in WNBA, NBA right now. The whole basis of her joining the Liberty comes on the back of an NBA role. Reportedly, the New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers gave Staley an offer for a coaching role.

At one point, Staley considered joining the Knicks, which got the rumor mill churning following Sandy Brondello’s firing. With the Knicks and the Liberty both based in New York, fans found a connection. They speculated that Dawn Staley could show interest in this role. This brought Ayala to her second point on why Staley won’t move. To put it simply: money. South Carolina has a contract with Staley that makes her the highest-paid women’s basketball coach to date.

In her contract, Staley gets an annual $4 million salary along with an annual $250,000 escalator. Coupled with a $500,00 signing bonus, the whole worth of her contract amounts to approximately $25.25 million. According to the WNBA reporter, New York would have to top that for Staley to consider a move. Furthermore, Staley can wait until her contract expires in 2030 to even think about joining the WNBA. By then, there will be a lot of expansion teams that will look for a head coach.

“She’s absolutely one of the best coaches in basketball right now. You would have to entice her in a big way if she’s going to leave a situation that’s pretty solid… [She] got an extension to become one of the highest-paid coaches. So that’s another thing you’d have to really entice her at this point if she’s going to leave the NCAA system. Her contract, I guess, is going through 2030, which means we’ve still got a lot of expansion teams to come through the W in that time period. So, I don’t know if the timing is necessarily right for Dawn Staley,” said Ayala.

While many New York fans would want Staley to take the place of Sandy Brondello, looking at the current scenario, that would be highly implausible. But we have seen many surprising things happen in the WNBA. Letting go of your most successful coach is surely one of them. However, there are other candidates apart from Dawn Staley who would take the New York position.

If not Dawn Staley, who can replace Sandy Brondello?

Truth be told, with Brondello’s departure, the successor has some big shoes to fill. Replacing the most successful coach is not an easy task. Although Erica Ayala suggests New York can go the Chicago and Dallas route by bringing in first-year head coaches. But we all saw how it turned out with the two teams this season. There is already unrest in the Liberty camp. Before the sacking of Brondello, players like Breanna Stewart and Natasha Cloud showed their vocal support to the now ex-coach.

Handing the keys to a championship-winning team to a rookie coach might cause further disdain among the players. The New York Liberty, however, has already tried this formula. Before Brondello, they brought in Walt Hopkins for the 2020-21 season, the then-assistant coach of the Minnesota Lynx. But within a year, he was fired from his role, abysmal 14-40 record.

So New York would be looking for an experienced head coach, or someone who has proven their worth, as Sandy Brondello’s successor. Apart from Dawn Staley, the names popping up in debates are Noelle Quinn, Briann January, Tanisha Wright, and Teresa Weatherspoon. But none of them have been approached for the role yet. In which direction the Liberty front office under Jonathan Kolb decides to move in will be an interesting watch.