PORTLAND, Ore. — Tyler Marsh enters his second season as Sky head coach with a brand-new roster. In many ways, though, he’s approaching the job the same way he always has. He still eats his Starburst and drinks his ginger ale before every game. He still talks to his sister on game days.
That steadiness has defined Marsh, who cut his teeth in player development as an assistant in the WNBA, NBA and G League. He leads with a consistency and transparency that inspire a surprisingly fierce loyalty in his players.
Forward Rickea Jackson had been in Marsh’s system barely a week when she said she wanted to “run through a wall” for him. Even Ariel Atkins, who played just one season under Marsh before being traded for Jackson, recently told Russo Writes: “I will ride for Tyler any time of the day.”
Part of that trust stems from his gifts on the clipboard — drawing up plays and deploying personnel in creative, sometimes unorthodox ways. Despite a rough first season overall, pulling forward Angel Reese out onto the perimeter and helping her emerge as a playmaker was a significant achievement.
Marsh’s task in 2026 is to replicate that success with his young core: Jackson and Kamilla Cardoso. His plan for Cardoso involves keeping her moving. He doesn’t want her idling in the low post, making her an easy target for double-teams. He wants to weaponize her uncanny quickness in slips and short rolls. For Jackson, Marsh intends to leverage her size and downhill ability to play nearly every position on the floor.
“I feel like [Marsh’s system] highlights each and every one of our strengths,” Jackson said.
Marsh is good at that. But he’ll also have to show he can help fix weaknesses. Reese was a cautionary tale. While his system elevated her impact, her finishing mechanics stagnated in Chicago. She left with the same layup form she arrived with — more palm than fingertips, jumping more forward than upward.
Marsh only had Reese for one season, so that doesn’t all fall on him. Still, he needs to prove he can develop Cardoso and Jackson’s skills, not just draw up the right plays for them.
Cardoso could stand to add the back-to-the-basket arsenal that separates the league’s elite centers — a baby hook, a turnaround jumper. Jackson has a solid scoring package already, but she needs better footwork and angles on the defensive end.
Those are the long-term priorities. In the short term, how quickly Marsh’s system coheres will determine the Sky’s fate on their opening road trip.
His offense is again built on ball and player movement, though the 2026 version leans even harder into positionless basketball.
“We might not be traditional 1, 2, 3, 4, but having guards that can attack from different points … our versatility is going to give us a lot of options this year on both sides of the basketball,” point guard Skylar Diggins said before the regular season opener.
Versatility creates options. But options also mean uncertainty. Without defined roles, players can struggle to read each other’s movements in real time. The offense looked disjointed at times in a preseason loss to the Dream.
The Sky are lucky to open the regular season against the expansion Portland Fire, a team with far less talent and firepower. But the honeymoon is short. The next three games bring three of last year’s best teams — the Valkyries, Mercury and Lynx — in quick succession.
A year ago, the Sky stumbled out of the gate at 1-3. They have a deeper and more talented roster this year. But they’ll have to jell quickly to prove that their playoff expectations really are more realistic this season.