Sky to bring back coach Tyler Marsh for third season

Tyler Marsh has new life.

Just a week ago he was reckoning with his future in Chicago after another season failed to live up to expectations. He told reporters that whether or not he was back leading the Sky in 2027, he was grateful for his experience — and that he if he was back, he’d approach it with the same zeal he always has.

Now he can rest easy. The Sky front office wants to see what the third-year coach can do, confirming that he’ll be returning next season.

“It was going to be incredibly unfair to judge someone that has yet to play with healthy rosters as a young coach,” general manager Jeff Pagliocca said in his exit interview on Thursday.

Marsh’s luck hasn’t been great since joining the Sky as a first-time head coach in 2025. In each year one of his top players tore their ACL — Courtney Vandersloot in 2025 and Rickea Jackson in 2026. This season he also started the year without Vandersloot and Azura Stevens, and ultimately lost point guard Skylar Diggins to injury 19 games in.

Still, midway through the season, Pagliocca told the Sun-Times that even despite the injuries across their starting lineup, he expected the team to make the playoffs. The Sky finished well short in 11th place, and blowing close games was a big reason why.

Pagliocca said Thursday that he saw enough growth from Marsh to give him confidence.

“I never heard him make excuses,” Pagliocca said of Marsh. “I never heard him shy away from taking responsibility, in a lot of moments where he didn’t need to or shouldn’t have. We were in those games. Whether the players weren’t executing or he wasn’t executing, he was owning that responsibility.

“He’s as selfless as I’ve been around. He coaches for the right reasons. He kept the locker room intact.

“He knows what he wants to do differently, and he’s made me believe that he’s the guy to lead this team.”