Men Dominate WNBA Coaching Ranks

The WNBA is making much of its 10th anniversary this season, yet underneath the glamour of being the only women’s professional sports league to last this long is a glaring fact: Of the 14 current head coaches, 11 are men.

It is a far cry from only two years ago when there were seven female head coaches. And it is far from what was envisioned when the WNBA began.

According to former league president Val Ackerman, the idea was to create professional opportunities for women not only as coaches but also referees and executives.

“And I think that’s proven to be true,” said Ackerman, who is now president of USA Basketball. “It has always been to get the best people for the job. I think more people with NBA backgrounds are being considered than in the early years. Before, teams were looking for coaches with women’s basketball backgrounds. That led you to college. Now teams are looking for pro backgrounds and it has been a positive to have the infusion of experience from the NBA.”

This season began with three female head coaches -- Suzie McConnell Serio in Minnesota, Pat Coyle in New York and Anne Donovan in Seattle.

McConnell Serio resigned two weeks ago under the pressure of a losing season and was replaced on an interim basis by lead assistant Carolyn Jenkins.

The Liberty, under Coyle, is in the throes of its worst season in franchise history (7-20 through July 31).

If Jenkins and Coyle are not retained, and the Lynx and Liberty continue the recent trend of hiring former NBA players or coaches, that would leave Donovan -- the only female coach to win a WNBA championship -- a minority of one.

At present, there are eight coaches who come by way of the NBA. The Sparks’ Joe Bryant, Charlotte’s Muggsy Bogues, Chicago’s Dave Cowens, Detroit’s Bill Laimbeer and Indiana’s Brian Winters all played in the NBA.

Washington’s Richie Adubato, Connecticut’s Mike Thibault and Phoenix’s Paul Westhead have been NBA coaches.

Of the first group, Bogues, Bryant and Laimbeer had no prior head coaching experience. But that was not unprecedented. Former WNBA coaches Michael Adams (Washington), Dee Brown (Orlando and San Antonio) and T.R. Dunn (Charlotte) had the same coaching resume.

Laimbeer has been the most successful of this group, winning the WNBA title in 2003. Bryant, in his first full year with the Sparks, has won the Western Conference regular-season title and has Los Angeles in the running for the league’s best record.

But having so many male coaches 10 years on has people such as Beth Bass, chief executive of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Assn., closely monitoring the league’s hiring.

“Where I’m concerned is the pool of candidates and access. [Jobs are] going to individuals who don’t have the experience of coaching women’s basketball,” Bass said, adding that even the league’s female assistant coaches are being bypassed. “Our coaches are not being looked at in a viable pool of candidates. It’s NBA players and coaches. We want to be at the table to be interviewed.”

According to league records, there have been 51 different head coaches in the WNBA since the league began in 1997. Of that total, 25 have been women.

“When this league started we gave several women opportunities and it seemed that those opportunities were not successful,” Donovan said before the season started. “So the trends just flipped. I’d like to see that cycle come back.

“There’s definitely something to be said for somebody ... coming from the NBA versus the college ranks to the WNBA. There’s really a specific fit for the professional ranks that not even the greatest of college coaches make for a good fit here. But I would like to see the cycle spin back. I just think that No. 1: the best person for the job. I firmly believe that. The second thing to that is that there are a lot of great women coaches out there, and I’d like to have that opportunity for us.”

UCLA Coach Kathy Olivier, who had two players drafted from her 2006 Pacific-10 tournament championship team, agreed that the college game is different from the pros. She also pointed out, however, that few female college head coaches would be tempted to seek WNBA jobs because college is more lucrative: higher salaries, apparel contracts and television or radio deals.

“You still want to see opportunities for women,” she said. “It’s hard when you see what you think is a double standard in the opportunities for women than men.”

It’s not all bleak, however.

WNBA Commissioner Donna Orender said the league is looking to implement a development program “to create encouragement and opportunities” for female coaches. But she acknowledged that many top female coaches prefer the college level.

“There’s a stability in college ball that the pro ranks don’t offer,” Orender said. “And there’s probably a pay scale, as well.”

There are 13 female assistant coaches in the WNBA. And some, such as Houston’s Karleen Thompson and New York’s Marianne Stanley, have been WNBA head coaches.

“I want to believe women still have a chance,” Thompson said. “I don’t think it is a man vs. women type of thing. It depends on the organization and what they want.”

Ackerman believes the trend will change. “What you will see,” she said, “is more former WNBA players getting coaching positions in the league as they graduate from playing.”

Rene Brown, the WNBA’s chief of basketball operations and player relations, said the time will come when there is a better mix of male and female head coaches.

“I still see it coming,” she said. “But right now we have to keep things open to who the best coaches are. We want those who can coach and raise the level of play in the WNBA. Let’s get the best coaches out there, and take away gender.”