The two latest WNBA head coach hirings might be a sign of broader shifts across the women’s basketball landscape.
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Sparks announced they hired longtime Utah head coach Lynne Roberts, who jumps from college basketball to the professional ranks for the first time in her career. Her hiring came a week after the Atlanta Dream hired Karl Smesko, Florida Gulf Coast’s coach of more than 20 seasons. Two leading offensive minds — in the college game — are now WNBA head coaches.
While rare for WNBA franchises to turn to college coaches to fill vacancies, multiple league sources told The Athletic that they’re being targeted more than in past years.
Part of the change is financial. Salaries for WNBA head coaches in 2024 ranged from around $350,000 to just over $1 million annually, multiple league sources said, a nearly double increase from even five years ago. According to USA Today’s salary database, Roberts earned around $700,000 at Utah last season, while Smesko earned around $450,000. It’s safe to assume their franchises provided them with comparable pay or pay bumps.
Hiring college coaches from either mid-major programs or less-established Power 5 programs has always been more realistic (and cheaper) than hiring from the upper echelon of college…
