Before Donnie Marsh even hung up his cellphone, he was already plotting how to get back to Tallahassee to surprise his son, Tyler.
At the time, the elder Marsh was an assistant coach at Virginia Tech, and his wife, LaRoyce, was holding the family down back in Florida. Life as a coach often meant time away. Sometimes, it was a long time, such as when a job change required planning before his wife and kids moved across the country. Other times, it was a day or two for road games or scouting trips.
But one thing Marsh mastered was knowing when his presence was needed. After getting a call from one of Tyler’s teachers filling him in on some standard middle school mischief, Marsh knew he had to show up. An 11-hour car ride across four state lines put him at the playground fence bright and early, just before the first bell sounded.
As Tyler was greeted by his father on the walk into school, he learned a valuable lesson about sacrifice and the power of presence.
Both pillars have come to define Tyler’s coaching philosophy. As the Sky’s eighth coach — the fourth in three years — and the youngest in the WNBA, Marsh has his first opportunity to use those tenets to build success within a franchise from the ground up.
“Ultimately, I believe one of my greatest strengths is my discernment,” Marsh said. “I have a good feel for people. That translates into how I create my coaching philosophy.”
Marsh’s modest 5-10 frame, paired with a hushed demeanor that’s somewhat of a trademark, serves as a sort of mask, concealing a résumé that already includes four championships. He has never relied on bravado and exclamations to prove his value.
He was the kind of player who came off the bench in garbage time and picked up two quick charges for his team. He’s the coach who answers a call in the middle of the night from a player looking for a gym on the road and someone to rebound. He’s the assistant who says yes to all the menial tasks without complaint, all the while silently studying the traits of those around him — the coaches he’d like to emulate one day.
The first was his father.
Tyler and his younger sister, Sydnee, spent years in the gym with Donnie as he navigated a career on the sideline that spanned over 35 years. Days spent playing on the baseline of his dad’s practices as a child slowly transitioned to him taking part in the rigors as a player. Tyler spent his first two college years playing at UAB, where his dad was an assistant, before transferring to Birmingham Southern. Donnie learned early on that Tyler had the coaching bug because of the way he watched games.
Tyler never viewed with the eyes of a fan, as indicated by the list of questions about strategy and in-game decision-making he would have for his father after a game.
But it wasn’t just the strategy Marsh was picking up.
“I can’t tell you a game that my dad has won or lost,” Tyler said. “The wins and losses as a head coach doesn’t mean much to me in the grand scheme of things. One thing I do remember are all the coaches at the Final Fours I’ve traveled with my dad to telling me how great of a man he is and the impact he had on their life. Same with the players. That’s what I’m most proud of to say I’m a coach’s kid.”
Those memories stand at the forefront of Marsh’s approach to coaching.
Winning matters, Marsh said, but so does character. Beginning with his first job out of college as a graduate assistant at Texas Southern, Marsh focused on letting his work do the talking. It spoke loud enough to catch the attention of Nick Nurse, who was then coaching the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets’ NBA D-League affiliate.
Nurse hired Marsh as a player-development coach. He wound up putting in 24-hour days. In 2013, they won the league title, sweeping the Santa Cruz Warriors in two games. When Nurse was promoted to coach of the Raptors in 2018, he called Marsh to join his staff. That season, the Raptors beat the Warriors 4-2 in the NBA Finals, bringing Marsh’s ring total to two.
“Tyler’s got more rings than anybody sitting in this room,” Nurse said. “Including me. He’s almost got a full handful of them.”
Marsh left the Raptors in 2020 for an assistant job with the Pacers. In 2021, when the Pacers hired Rick Carlisle to replace Nate Bjorkgren, Carlisle kept Marsh on his staff — an uncommon practice whenever there’s a coaching change.
“Everything I heard about him was amazing,” Carlisle said. “High character. Amazing people skills, basketball feel, knowledge, ability to work with people. Man of few words, but when he speaks, people listen.”
One person in particular with a keen listening ear is three-time WNBA All-Star and two-time league champion Jackie Young.
The Aces drafted Young out of Notre Dame with the No. 1 overall pick in 2019. She underperformed as a rookie, averaging just 6.6 points, 4.5 assists and 3.3 rebounds. The next year, her scoring average nearly doubled as she shot 49.2% from the field.
In 2021, Young continued improving steadily, averaging 12.2 points while shooting 50.7%. But her three-point shot was missing. Young shot 28.6% from behind the arc in her first three seasons and didn’t even average one attempt per game.
Enter Marsh.
When the Aces hired Becky Hammon in 2022, she had a Rolodex filled with colleagues she could consider to fill out her staff and seek input from for suggestions. Pacers assistant Jenny Boucek was the voice in Hammon’s ear telling her she needed Marsh.
Young was playing overseas in Australia when she got a call from her new coach.
“I have a guy for you,” Hammon told Young.
The two immediately found common ground in their mirrored disposition, work ethic and love for routine work such as watching film. Young’s game took off in 2022. She averaged 15.9 points while shooting 43.1% from three, up from 25% the previous year. She earned her first All-Star nod and was named the league’s Most Improved Player. The Aces won their first WNBA championship, bringing Marsh’s ring total to three.
The next year, Marsh won his fourth as the Aces became the first WNBA team to win back-to-back titles in over 20 years. Young’s averages improved further, to 17.9 points while shooting 44.9% from three-point range. She was the team’s third-leading scorer behind three-time MVP A’ja Wilson and three-time All-Star Kelsey Plum.
Young wasn’t surprised when she learned Marsh was being pursued for coaching roles in the WNBA. In fact, she thought last year might be his last with the Aces.
“When you’re great at what you do, you don’t stay in the same position,” Young said.
Leading up to Marsh’s decision to accept the Sky’s offer, the two shared a lot of conversations, reflecting on the last three seasons. When it came time for Marsh to break the news, no words were necessary.
“The last workout before he officially told me [he took the Sky coaching job], he was a little bit emotional,” Young said. “I caught on, but I was like, ‘I’m not going to say anything. Let’s just get through this workout.’ That was a Friday, so Monday was my next workout. Then I was emotional. It was a whole thing coming to the realization those were our last moments on the court after we had spent so much time together.”
Marsh is a month into his new job, which comes with some lofty expectations.
The first-time head coach will be expected to lead the Sky back to relevance after their nosedive from title contention to missing the playoffs in 2024. Bolstering Marsh’s efforts is second-year general manager Jeff Pagliocca.
Part of what attracted the Sky to Marsh was his proven track record for maximizing young stars’ talent. Young is the most talked-about example, but Marsh’s impact is all over Wilson, Plum and the rest of the Aces. Reestablishing the Sky as a championship-caliber team will require Marsh to have a similar impact on their cornerstones: Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese.
Another aspect of what made Marsh a top target for the Sky was the way he has gone about developing players. What’s perceived as a quiet presence is really Marsh’s way of learning what those around him need most to succeed. He doesn’t take up empty air with overused hyperbole.
Marsh’s opener is usually, “You got a -second?” After which he’s known to devolve into a speech with the power to lock players in because they seem to always come at the right time and are laced with hours of film study and preparation.
His father can summarize Marsh’s knack for leading best with a simple warning:
“Don’t let the smooth taste fool you.”