New Sky coach Marsh plans to spread a championship mentality
The Sky's coaching change played out like a three-episode story arc.
First, there were end-of-season interviews where everything seemed to be fine, followed by the surprising announcement that coach Teresa Weatherspoon would be relieved of duties after a single season.
When management finally addressed the firing last month at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Sky's new practice facility, general manager Jeff Pagliocca and veteran center Elizabeth Williams both used the phrase “holding people accountable” when mentioning a wish list for the new coach.
How this ties into newly-hired Tyler Marsh isn't clear. But when the Sky introduced Marsh on Tuesday at Wintrust Arena, both Williams and veteran guard Rachel Banham joined him at the podium.
Clearly, the Sky is trying to empower veterans to set the tone for the team's younger players. Then with Marsh coming over from Las Vegas, he can add the perspective of, “This is how it was done on a two-time WNBA championship team.”
“This seemed like the perfect match and the perfect fit for me to take this job,” Marsh said.
Marsh, 36, said he hit it off quickly with Pagliocca, which makes sense since Marsh has worked as a player development coach in the past, and Pagliocca made his name as a personal trainer to NBA players like Patrick Beverley before joining the Sky as director of player development.
“I want to absolutely thank our very passionate Chicago Sky fans,” Pagliocca said. “I heard you, I felt you, we delivered.”
There's probably no one in the world with a resume quite like Marsh. As a kid, he bounced around the country with his father, Donnie, who had stints as an assistant at some big schools (Florida State, Virginia Tech, Indiana) in between working as a head coach at some smaller stops (College of New Jersey, Florida International, Alabama A&M).
Donnie Marsh is an assistant at Detroit-Mercy. His son said both parents drove from Birmingham, Ala., to be at Tuesday's news conference.
“I've been to a few of his introductory press conferences, so now having the shoe on the other foot is kind of cool,” Tyler Marsh said.
After playing at UAB and Birmingham Southern, Marsh went straight to work with four different G-League teams. He spent two years as player development coach for the Toronto Raptors, two seasons as an Indiana Pacers assistant, then three years with the Las Vegas Aces.
One important connection was current Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse. Marsh worked under Nurse with the G-League's Rio Grande Valley Vipers and Iowa Energy, then joined Nurse in Toronto a few years later.
Another clue to what the Sky has in mind was Marsh talking about how every player and coach are equally important. He talked about a system where different players could step up on any given night. In other words, this isn't all about a few rising stars.
“Everyone has a huge part to play, everybody brings value, it doesn't matter how many minutes you play,” Marsh said.
Walsh has no head coaching experience, but plenty of championship experience. He's won titles with the Vipers, Raptors and two in Las Vegas working for head coach Becky Hammon. Another former Aces assistant, Natalie Nakase, was recently named head coach of the expansion Golden State Valkyries, and there are still five head-coaching vacancies in the WNBA.
So it feels like if the Sky didn't hire Marsh, another team would have, and the Sky's veteran players approve. Banham joked about the response on X of Las Vegas guard Sydney Colson. Sky forward Angel Reese sent out a one-letter message “W” when news of Marsh's hiring broke, and Colson responded with “Excuse me? We're grieving, have some (anger emoji) respect.”
Reese wasn't at Wintrust Arena on Tuesday. According to her Instagram feed, she was at Disney World with her young nephew, which is a reasonable excuse. There will be plenty of time for coach and players to get acquainted.