When the Las Vegas Aces’ Becky Hammon entered the team in 2022, not many expected much from her. After all, she was coming in with the experience of an assistant coach that too from an NBA team. She had no head coaching experience. Yet, with her fiery competitiveness and accountability, she helped the franchise win its first title in her very first season. She repeated the feat a year later and then again last year, turning a non-threatening team into the WNBA’s modern-era dynastic champions. But I digress – just a little, though.

Miles away in Dallas, Jose Fernandez is trying to follow in the same footsteps. Without any WNBA knowledge, the former South Florida head coach wishes to return the current young core of the Wings to their former glory. And while his fiery coaching style has ruffled some feathers, he already knows where his attention is required.

“I’m really not concerned about what’s being said,” Fernandez told the media ahead of the Aces matchup. “My biggest concern is my staff and the 14 players in that locker room. That’s my concern.”

According to a Rotowire study, the Wings are the seventh-youngest team in the league this season. This means they still need to build the foundation that has been keeping them away from the playoffs. So, after a couple of new head coaches, the Wings turned their attention squarely to the ones with enough experience.

Yes, it is Fernandez’s first WNBA stint, but he has a 25-year stint at USF backing him up. He knows how to build a roster from individual players. That’s exactly what the Wings are. And Fernandez just might be the leader they need.

So, should one pay enough heed to when he openly called his players selfish?

“I mean, it’s real talk and it’s accountability. That’s what I told them,” Fernandez said after the team lost 90-86 to the Minnesota Lynx earlier this month. “There’s selfishness in this locker room. There is. You gotta look in the mirror and be accountable on how you play.”

Not really, I’d say. Cynthia Cooper, however, disagrees.

“Accountability is for everyone. Everyone – staff, players, let’s be accountable,” she said.

Many coaches in professional sports have kept themselves rugged all for the team’s success. Anyway, the players are anything but unhappy regarding his coaching so far.

“No. He’s a wonderful coach,” Aziaha James said before the Washington Mystics clash (via DallasHoops Journal). “He pushes us every day. He wants the best out of us. He’s very detailed, and he just wants us to be great players.”

Veterans Maddy Siegrist and Arike Ogunbowale echoed the same opinion, advocating for the new coach.

The results have made his case, too. After being 1-2 before those comments, they went 3-1. 

It’s worth noting that the Wings finished the 2025 season 10-34 under Chris Koclanes, and there has been little time for Fernandez to adjust to the big leagues. Yet, the positive signs are already there.

Fernandez is bringing his own work ethic while imprinting his playing style on this team. With this attitude, he has also made some bold decisions, like bringing Azzi Fudd off the bench to start the season despite being the No. 1 pick. 

Critics questioned that move, but Fudd’s 24 points against the Liberty vindicated it. She also earned a spot in the starting lineup against the Aces. In addition, the coach is not all bitter. He has fiercely backed one of his veterans despite a poor start to the season. 

Jose Fernandez Backs Veteran Signing Through Early Struggles

The Dallas Wings are a relatively young group, as I mentioned above. They are building around Paige Bueckers, adding Jessica Shepherd, Alanna Smith, and Awak Kuier, among others. But while the team is off to a positive start, Smith has struggled, averaging 3.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2 assists.

For comparison, she averaged 9.7 points and 5.7 rebounds while winning the Defensive Player Of The Year with the Lynx. She was also one of their defensive pillars. However, Jose Fernandez has backed his veteran, citing her facial injury as one of the factors behind the drop-off. 

“I think there’s got to be a great balance. We signed her for a reason. There are so many things that go into someone’s performance,” he said. “She’s very hard on herself, she cares, and she’s a winner. 

“What she’s going through right now, having to play with a mask, is tough. Medically, I think you guys know what happened to her. Then you’re asking her to guard the toughest position in the WNBA and also be great on the offensive end. I think she needs to be shown some grace.”

As I said, just like Hammon, who has called out the Aces many a time only to see them improve, Fernandez doesn’t mind being rough on the edges either. But on the inside, what matters is that he still cares about how his roster acts and plays like a team. Because, as he noted, winning is all that matters at the end of the day.