After a first-round playoff exit in the 2025 WNBA season, the New York Liberty management decided to part ways with head coach Sandy Brondello. It mattered little that she was the very coach who had delivered the franchise’s first championship just a year earlier. Naturally, many have speculated about what went on behind the scenes, with No Offseason’s Sabreena Merchant saying, “it didn’t seem like the two of them were quite in alignment on what they wanted the future of the New York Liberty to look like.” 

However, finally, we have an answer from the former Liberty head coach herself. In her recent appearance on Bird’s Eye View with Sue Bird, Brondello opened up about the challenges that followed New York’s title run. “We’re the champions from last year, and the hardest thing is to repeat. It really is hard,” she admitted.

Sandy Brondello, being honest about her exit from the team, further added, “It was hard; it was a very disruptive season, trying to find it. I just felt that it probably wasn’t the right fit anymore, to be quite honest. It was a leadership decision there, and I work best when I’m in a partnership…It was probably time. And then I always say four years. I had four great years. I got to win a Championship. That will be always be special for me. I think what we’ve done in New York, and to be a part of that, it was fantastic. And you know if they want to move on, that’s fine.”

Brondello joined the Liberty in 2022, and just after four years with them, she was fired.

Now, the Liberty’s 2025 season began and ended with the same word: evolution. It was the motto Sandy Brondello introduced at training camp but failed to execute, and the concept general manager Jonathan Kolb cited when explaining why her contract option wasn’t renewed. Kolb said the WNBA has changed dramatically since he hired Brondello and built a roster around Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and Jonquel Jones in 2023.

“You look at our our five person starting lineup, and you compare and contrast it to 2024, it’s actually eerily similar when you look at offensive rating, defensive rating and net rating. It was actually better net rating wise and offensive rating wise, but it dropped in ranking offensively, even though we scored more points per possession than just a year ago. And to me, that’s indicative of a changing league,” Kolb said.

Kolb even admitted he had considered parting ways with Brondello a year earlier, after the 2024 championship. That championship, hence, many said, relied on luck and chance. In 2025, those breaks didn’t come. The Liberty were derailed by injuries to Stewart, Jones, and Ionescu, and lacked the depth to fill those gaps. Gone were key contributors like Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, Kayla Thornton, and Courtney Vandersloot, all of whom had given the 2024 roster its balance.

Brondello and assistant Sonia Raman had tried to modernize the team with a five-out offense centered on Stewart’s versatility, but when Stewart missed time, the system collapsed. The Liberty cycled through 18 starting lineups and often played with just eight healthy players.

Internally, tension grew between the front office and coaching staff over rotation decisions and the limited use of players Kolb had signed. Small disagreements, such as Brondello’s reliance on Stephanie Talbot, turned into larger philosophical differences that were too visible in a team that wasn’t playing like the champions.

Still, as Brondello told Sue Bird, she maintained that she had led the team to the best of her ability.

However, with her expertise and accolades to back her, Brondello quickly secured another job. Embracing a fresh challenge, she has joined the Toronto Tempo as the head coach of the WNBA’s newest expansion team. While the organization has yet to make an official announcement, Howard Megdal of The IX Basketball was the first to report Brondello’s move.

Meanwhile, the Liberty is still searching.

The Liberty needs to find Sandy Brondello’s successor quickly

The Toronto Tempo, set to debut alongside the revived Portland Fire in 2026, seems to be the biggest winner of the Liberty’s coaching shake-up. Sandy Brondello’s résumé speaks for itself, despite the hiccups in 2025. She’s reached the playoffs every single year of her 13-season coaching career, leading Phoenix to a championship in 2014 before guiding New York to its first title a decade later.

Now, across the league, four of the five available coaching spots have already been snapped up, leaving Liberty GM Jonathan Kolb under pressure to name Brondello’s replacement soon. One familiar face is already off the board: assistant coach Sonia Raman. The Seattle Storm hired her last week, making her the first Indian-American head coach in WNBA history. Raman, who previously worked with the Memphis Grizzlies, was instrumental in reshaping New York’s offense last season.

Elsewhere, the Portland Fire are turning to former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Alex Sarama to steer their new franchise, while USF’s Alex Fernandez has taken charge of the Dallas Wings. That leaves Will Weaver, once a Nets assistant, and Phoenix Mercury assistant Kristi Toliver as leading contenders for the league’s lone remaining vacancy.

Whoever takes over in Brooklyn will inherit sky-high expectations, especially with stars like Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu, and Breanna Stewart likely returning as free agents. The city won’t have much patience for a slow start. If another title doesn’t come soon, Liberty fans might just start chanting for Sandy’s comeback.