Wings HC Jose Fernandez gets major vote of confidence from Arike Ogunbowale after loss to Valkyries
Wings HC Jose Fernandez gets major vote of confidence from Arike Ogunbowale after loss to Valkyries appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Wings’ season ended Friday night in San Francisco, where Golden State erased a 16-point deficit to win Game 3 by a 77-73 score. Arike Ogunbowale used the moment afterward to make sure Jose Fernandez’s first year did not get lost in the result.
“He’s a winner,” Ogunbowale told reporters after the game. “He wants us to win. He deserves a lot of praise for what he did this year. Jose has been really special to me in our relationship.”
The numbers back her up. Dallas finished 27-17, a 17-win improvement on last season’s 10-34 mark that tied Chicago for the worst record in the league. According to Basketball Reference, that is the largest single-season turnaround in WNBA history, and Fernandez now holds the league record for the biggest improvement by a first-year coach.
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It also ended a drought. The Wings reached the postseason for the first time since 2023, after cycling through five head coaches in seven seasons. Fernandez was hired in October 2025 following Chris Koclanes’ dismissal after a single year, arriving from South Florida, where he spent 25 seasons building the Bulls into a consistent mid-major power.
He made history simply by taking the job. The Cuban American became the first Latino head coach in the WNBA’s three-decade existence.
The praise matters because the scrutiny was real. Fernandez took criticism throughout the season over rotations and minutes distribution, and he publicly called out a “selfish” locker room after a loss to Minnesota earlier in the year. Ogunbowale had already pushed back on those narratives once, after Dallas clinched its playoff spot.
She gave Fernandez plenty to work with. Ogunbowale scored 45 points in Dallas’ overtime win in Game 2, a WNBA playoff record for points in a single game, and added 30 in the decider.
Dallas also loses nothing from its core. Paige Bueckers is coming off a second straight All-Star season, and Azzi Fudd returns next year after missing the playoffs following arthroscopic knee surgery in August.
Related: Wings’ Jose Fernandez gives Paige Bueckers props for taking ‘ownership’ of Dallas in 2026
Related: Wings star Arike Ogunbowale makes franchise history in loss to Valkyries
