The Dallas Wings Make a Coaching Change after losing Eight Straight Games

The Dallas Wings Make a Coaching Change after losing Eight Straight Games

Fred Williams has been relieved of coaching duties, effective immediately.

Fred Williams has been relieved of coaching duties, effective immediately.

The Dallas Wings announced a coaching change late Sunday night, effective immediately, as they relieved Coach Fred Williams of his coaching duties after the Dallas Wings lost a road game in Washington, DC. The loss dropped the Wings to a 14-17 record, with their playoff hopes hanging in the balance.

The move was not surprising after recent losses the Chicago Sky and the Indiana Fever, both lottery-bound teams. The WNBA standings have never looked as tight as they have this season, and every single win or loss counts.

From an outside observer, it looked like Fred Williams had lost his team. Dallas could not defend, and they did not have enough offensive firepower outside of Skylar Diggins-Smith and Liz Cambage. The wheels were starting to fall off for the Wings. They last won on July 20th in Dallas vs the Mystics, which was televised on ESPN2. In some of the losses, it was just by a couple of points. If they had figured out how to win in late game situations, the coach would not have been fired. The trade that sent Aerial Powers to DC in exchange for Tayler Hill did not get off to as good of a start as the Wings were anticipating.

The compressed schedule has done no favors for any team, but as the losses started to mount, tensions grew between general manager Greg Bibb and coach Fred Williams. This was reported by several sources such as ESPN, High Post HoopsWomen's Hoop World and Hoopfeed. It came to a screeching halt as the two were involved in a post-game altercation that several Wings team staffers had to break them apart. That resulted in coach Fred Williams issuing a statement to resign reported by ESPN's Mechelle Voepel.

Later that evening, the Wings put out a press release on the firing to relieve Fred Williams of his coaching duties. This resulted in assistant coach Taj McWilliams Franklin moving to the interim coach position until the Dallas Wings can conduct a proper off-season coaching search.

TMZ Sports was able to speak to ex-coach Fred Williams in the airport and he stated that he was disappointed he could no longer work with the team he helped put together.

The drama that occurred with the Dallas Wings ex-coach and GM will put a spotlight on how the Wings fare in their next three games. Making the playoffs will still be a top priority, but the Wings players loved their coach. He was one of the reasons why Liz Cambage came back to play for the team. Coaching changes happen in the WNBA, just like any other sport, but this was handled in a poor manner, and the players and assistant coaches are left to pick up the pieces.

The Dallas Wings are back in action Tuesday night when they visit Connecticut.

The Dallas Wings announced a coaching change late Sunday night, effective immediately, as they relieved Coach Fred Williams of his coaching duties after the Dallas Wings lost a road game in Washington, DC. The loss dropped the Wings to a 14-17 record, with their playoff hopes hanging in the balance.

The move was not surprising after recent losses the Chicago Sky and the Indiana Fever, both lottery-bound teams. The WNBA standings have never looked as tight as they have this season, and every single win or loss counts.

From an outside observer, it looked like Fred Williams had lost his team. Dallas could not defend, and they did not have enough offensive firepower outside of Skylar Diggins-Smith and Liz Cambage. The wheels were starting to fall off for the Wings. They last won on July 20th in Dallas vs the Mystics, which was televised on ESPN2. In some of the losses, it was just by a couple of points. If they had figured out how to win in late game situations, the coach would not have been fired. The trade that sent Aerial Powers to DC in exchange for Tayler Hill did not get off to as good of a start as the Wings were anticipating.

The compressed schedule has done no favors for any team, but as the losses started to mount, tensions grew between general manager Greg Bibb and coach Fred Williams. This was reported by several sources such as ESPN, High Post HoopsWomen's Hoop World and Hoopfeed. It came to a screeching halt as the two were involved in a post-game altercation that several Wings team staffers had to break them apart. That resulted in coach Fred Williams issuing a statement to resign reported by ESPN's Mechelle Voepel.

Later that evening, the Wings put out a press release on the firing to relieve Fred Williams of his coaching duties. This resulted in assistant coach Taj McWilliams Franklin moving to the interim coach position until the Dallas Wings can conduct a proper off-season coaching search.

TMZ Sports was able to speak to ex-coach Fred Williams in the airport and he stated that he was disappointed he could no longer work with the team he helped put together.

The drama that occurred with the Dallas Wings ex-coach and GM will put a spotlight on how the Wings fare in their next three games. Making the playoffs will still be a top priority, but the Wings players loved their coach. He was one of the reasons why Liz Cambage came back to play for the team. Coaching changes happen in the WNBA, just like any other sport, but this was handled in a poor manner, and the players and assistant coaches are left to pick up the pieces.

The Dallas Wings are back in action Tuesday night when they visit Connecticut.

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