Tyler Marsh took a long road to get here — but he’s finally a head coach, having been named the new coach of the Chicago Sky last week. Marsh, a former Las Vegas Aces assistant, will look to elevate a young, promising Sky core headlined by Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso, develop his young prospects, and ultimately work toward championship contention.
Reese is fresh off a superb rookie season that was punctuated by numerous all-time rebounding records. Her final averages for the 2024 season — 13.1 rebounds and 5.1 offensive rebounds per game — are the highest by any player in WNBA history, a remarkable feat for a rookie to achieve. At the same time, in her first professional season, Reese struggled offensively, shooting just 39.1% from the field. It’s an area she’s certainly poised to improve in — and given Tyler Marsh’s player development background, she just might have the right mentorship and support next season.
Marsh has yet to have a formal press conference with media since being named head coach, but will do so on November 12th. He’s sure to elaborate on his hopes and objectives for Chicago in that availability.
For now, here’s what we know about the 36-year-old who’s been involved with coaching for over a decade now — and how he might fit in with the Chicago Sky.
How did Tyler Marsh end up in Chicago?
Tyler Marsh has a comprehensive and long-winded coaching background. He’s most recently known for this work with the Las Vegas Aces, but that’s not where his coaching journey began. He’s coached men’s college basketball, in the G-League, and in the NBA prior to joining Becky Hammon’s staff in Las Vegas.
Marsh spent a lot of time in the NBA D League (now rebranded as the G-League), where he was involved with a variety of franchises from 2012 to 2017, beginning with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in 2013. For the last half-decade, he’s specialized in player development, making him a particularly shrewd pick for such a young roster.
He became a player development coach on the Toronto Raptors, when they won the championship in 2019 under Nick Nurse, and spent two seasons in player development with the Indiana Pacers, from 2020 to 2022.
Marsh made his transition to the WNBA in 2022, leading the player development efforts of Las Vegas Aces from 2022 to 2024. He helped lead the Aces to back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023, and is most well-known for helping elevate the game of Jackie Young, one of the Aces’ Olympic guards, who went from being a relatively inconsistent shooter to a knockdown threat.
“Truly changed my career,” Young wrote on X shortly after Marsh’s hiring was announced.
Marsh thanked the Aces in his first official comments after being announced as Chicago’s new head coach.
“Thank you to Coach Hammon, our staff and all of the Aces’ players for allowing me to make history with you as we brought the city of Las Vegas back-to-back championships,” he said. “I love you all and wouldn’t be in this position without you.”
Hammon, who hired Marsh from the Pacers, has long been one of his vocal believers.
“I have a lot of confidence in Tyler,” Hammon told Fieldhouse Files in 2023. “I’m really happy that he wanted to come and join my staff. But don’t confuse his quietness for being intimidated or whatever. He’s like strength and calm in a storm, he’s got a lot of it factor to him.”
“When it’s his turn, he’s gonna be fantastic. Trust me, he’s one of the good ones.”
Sky leadership similarly expressed their excitement with the promising hire.
“Coach Marsh is widely respected for the development of elite players and shares our goal of being a playoff and championship contender every year,” the Sky said in a statement on Saturday night.
Given that Chicago struggled immensely from beyond the arc — they were last in three-pointers made per game — having a coach with a proven player development background run the show who has previously helped players improve as shooters could prove highly impactful.
Marsh is also former player himself; he played college basketball, first at Alabama Birmingham from 2006 to 2008 and then in Birmingham-Southern from 2008 to 2010. His father, currently an assistant coach for the men’s basketball team at Detroit-Mercy, has also been coaching basketball for decades.
How can Tyler Marsh achieve success in Chicago?
Marsh has a tough road ahead in helping to rebuild the Chicago Sky, who were 18-22 last season and just missed the playoffs. He’ll be the franchise’s fourth coach in the last year alone, an incredible statistic that’s become increasingly representative of the league’s fast-changing landscape. Then-head coach James Wade departed Chicago in the middle of the 2023 season in favor of an assistant coach position with the Toronto Raptors, and his assistant at the time, Emre Vatansever, took over for the remainder of the year.
Vatansever wasn’t kept on for long, as the Sky hired Teresa Weatherspoon in October. Weatherspoon, despite forming a close relationship with Reese and breakout guard Chennedy Carter, only lasted a year with the organization before being let go, much to the surprise of much of the basketball world.
Marsh will prioritize the development of the Sky’s young players, headlined by last year’s draft picks Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso, while moving the franchise back toward playoff — and ultimately, championship — contention. Working with Reese in particular as a finisher around the basket, and with the Sky’s young guards as shooters, Marsh has the potential to vastly improve the team’s offense.
It’s very early, but he seems to be on the right track as far as earning the buy-in of his young athletes; he reportedly spoke to Angel Reese shortly after accepting the position, and she turned to Twitter to express her approval in the hiring with a simple message.
He has technically been a WNBA head coach before — for one game, to be exact — when Aces head coach Becky Hammon was serving out a suspension last season.
“Tyler’s been prepared for this moment,” said A’ja Wilson ahead of Marsh’s first game as head coach last season. “He’s ready to shine and we trust him in that fact. We’re going to go out there and be us.”
Kelsey Plum echoed that sentiment: “I don’t think you guys get to see the work he does with us on a daily basis, but he’s definitely the man for the job.”
Now, he’ll have to earn the respect and trust of a new crop of players as he takes over a franchise that has struggled since winning the WNBA championship in 2021.
Sky leadership hopes he can help tap into the young core’s potential.
“I’m looking forward to building relationships with our players and throughout our entire organization as we work towards establishing a championship culture on and off the court,” Marsh said.
