DALLAS — For the second time this year, Dallas Wings executive vice president and general manager Curt Miller was on the observation deck of Reunion Tower, introducing the team’s new head coach.
After deciding to let go of Chris Koclanes after just one 10-34 season at the helm, Miller found the next candidate to lead the team in longtime USF head coach Jose Fernandez. The move was made official on October 28, with Fernandez and Miller appearing alongside each other Thursday morning for an introductory press conference.
“This was a franchise I wanted to work for. This was a team I wanted to coach, and this was the GM I wanted to work for,” Fernandez said. “We have an unbelievable front office, and I’m really, really looking forward to this incredible partnership working for a great basketball mind in Curt Miller, who I have so much respect for.”
Fernandez is Dallas’ third coach in as many seasons. The franchise has finished with the league’s worst record in back-to-back seasons, and each of its last four coaches has lasted two seasons or less with the team. The longtime college coach is the next to be tasked with building up the Wings — and he feels he’s ready for it.
“A lot of people were scared about this job. I wasn’t scared,” he said.
How the coaching search ended with Fernandez
In his opening statement, Miller laid out what the team was looking for in this coaching search.
He said hiring someone with experience was the “first and foremost” priority for the team. While no direct comparisons were drawn, it’s worth noting that Koclanes was a first-time head coach with the Dallas Wings.
Otherwise, Miller said the team wanted a “proven winner,” relationship builder, talent developer, innovator and someone with a track record of “international outreach.”
Fernandez fit all those categories, according to the general manager. He spent 25 years at USF, making the NCAA Tournament 10 times and winning a WNIT championship in 2009. His international recruiting acumen was a significant part of his success, as well as his reputation for offense.
“He has a great approach at the offensive end,” Miller said. “And when you talk to colleagues around the country, they always talk about the preparation of his teams, the innovation of his teams offensively.”
Miller also said he was open with coaches he interviewed about the difficulty of the position, which helped thin the candidate pool.
“This job wasn’t for everyone,” Miller said. “I was very, very honest and transparent with our candidates and our candidate pool that this job is a tough job, the scrutiny that comes, the expectation that comes right now with the Dallas job is extremely high, and that scared people. And what I loved, it did not scare; in fact, it motivated Jose in our conversations.
“There’s very, very accomplished coaches that I spoke to that you could tell were shocked by the conversation of how tough we believe this job is because of the scrutiny that comes with it.”
Fernandez also had to make the decision to leave USF, the team he has spent most of his coaching career with. He said he’s been asked a lot why now was the time to make the move, and it comes down to the belief he has in the organization.
“I had a great situation at South Florida. I could have retired there, stayed there for the rest of my coaching career,” Fernandez said. “I came here to win because I believe in ownership, I believe in the franchise, and I believe in the front office and the partnership that we’re going to have to be successful here.”
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New coach for Paige Bueckers
In his new role, Fernandez will have the opportunity to coach star guard Paige Bueckers, the 2025 Rookie of the Year, who made the All-WNBA Second Team in her first professional season.
Having coached against UConn in the Big East and American Athletic Conference, Fernandez is good friends with Bueckers’ college coach, Geno Auriemma. The two have had conversations about Bueckers, and Fernandez called her “one of the faces of the league” on Thursday, having plenty of praise for her game.
“I like her with the ball in her hands and with the ball not in her hands,” Fernandez said. “… Great players want to be coached. She wants to be coached and held accountable. And I think the things that we’re going to do in the half-court and in the open floor are going to suit her. So I’m really excited to get to work with her.”
Bueckers averaged 19.2 points, 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals in her rookie season, and she will look to continue to grow under Fernandez. The coach said developing a relationship with her — as well as everyone else on the roster — is a major priority for the coming months.
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A critical offseason
There is a lot still yet to happen before Fernandez begins his first season as the Wings’ coach. Building the rest of his coaching staff is the most immediate task.
He plans on meeting with staff members from the 2025 team, and said, “It’s only fair” to hear from them about their experience over the past season and vision for the future. Assistant coach Nola Henry and director of player development Jhared Simpson were among those in attendance Thursday.
Fernandez said that there’s going to be a “big weight” on prior professional experience when it comes to building his staff, no matter if it comes from the WNBA, NBA or EuroLeague.
“That is going to be the first priority here in the next month, putting an elite staff together to have the same voice, to connect, to be able to player develop and to represent this organization in an unbelievable fashion,” he said.
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It will be a pivotal offseason for shaping the roster as well, with a WNBA Draft, expansion draft and free agency period all to come. Miller said there will be “tremendous collaboration” through all of that, and it’s already begun.
“Jose and I have trouble staying off the phone each night talking basketball,” Miller said. “College started, and we were sitting there on the phone, talking for 20 minutes while we were watching games together through the phone.”
While the draft will be important and exciting for Dallas, it is also focusing on adding veterans after starting the 2025 season as a young team and finishing as an even younger one. All of the team’s moves, of course, will be in pursuit of making the playoffs and building a championship contender.
“This won’t be the same old Dallas Wings, my brother,” Fernandez said in closing his opening statement Thursday. “Change is coming, and we’re going to win.”
