Liberty’s Big Lesson From DeMarco’s One-Season Disaster

There's an important lesson for the Liberty to learn from Chris DeMarco's quick flameout.

New York fired its head coach Tuesday morning after just one season.

The decision was made official on November 3, 2026.

DeMarco leaves with a 26-18 regular-season record.

He also won the Commissioner's Cup.

His team became the first eighth seed in WNBA history to eliminate a number one seed, sweeping the Minnesota Lynx in the first round.

But the Atlanta Dream swept the Liberty in the semifinals, three games to zero.

That ended New York's championship hopes.

Now general manager Jonathan Kolb must find another head coach.

This will be the Liberty's third head coach in three seasons.

Kolb chose not to renew Sandy Brondello's contract after the 2025 season.

Brondello had just won the franchise's first championship in 2024.

She compiled a 107-53 regular-season record over four seasons in New York.

She led the team to back-to-back Finals appearances.

Kolb said at the time that the decision was about evolution and innovation.

"Very serious thought and consideration was made to retaining Sandy (Brondello), but ultimately we determined that evolution and innovation is what is needed at this time," Kolb said.

DeMarco was brought in to lead that transition.

He had no previous WNBA coaching experience.

He spent 14 seasons with the Golden State Warriors as an assistant coach.

He helped Golden State win four NBA championships.

But his one-year tenure has brought Kolb's decision-making under renewed scrutiny.

Former ESPN analyst Linda Cohn addressed the situation on Wednesday.

Cohn pointed to Kolb's previous emphasis on innovation and keeping pace with a changing league.

She noted that the coach Kolb hired to replace Brondello did not even last two seasons.

"Funny how Kolb, the GM, said, 'We were looking forward. It wasn't about the playoff loss. We wanted innovation. We wanted to keep pace with a changing league.' So the guy he hired lasted exactly one year: Chris DeMarco," Cohn said.

Cohn questioned why Kolb himself had not faced similar scrutiny.

"And people might be saying, people that are Liberty fans, saying, 'Well, why does the GM still have his job? He keeps changing coaches. You decided this guy was the way to go to replace Sandy Brondello,'" Cohn said.

She called the decision to let Brondello go a big mistake.

"That was a big, big, big mistake. Big mistake, for sure," Cohn said.

DeMarco's season was marked by inconsistency.

The Liberty dealt with injuries throughout the campaign.

Satou Sabally suffered a concussion that limited her to just 13 appearances in 2026.

Sabrina Ionescu missed several games.

Changing lineups made it difficult for DeMarco to establish consistent combinations.

A costly moment came during Game 2 of the semifinals against Atlanta.

The Liberty failed to recognize they still had a reset timeout available in overtime.

Breanna Stewart attempted a difficult shot instead of using the remaining timeout late.

That confusion between officials and the Liberty proved significant.