The Seattle Storm have announced head coach Noelle Quinn’s contract will not be renewed for the 2026 season following the team’s second consecutive first-round playoff exit.
Storm GM Talisa Rhea was appreciative for Quinn’s service in a press release.
‘On behalf of our organization, I would like to thank Noelle for her time with the Storm. Her commitment to the ongoing success of our organization and to furthering the development of our players was second to none.’ Rhea said. ‘She put us in a position to win at the highest levels of the game and for that, we are grateful.’
Quinn’s tenure ended with a 74-73 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday. The Storm finished the regular season as the WNBA’s No. 7 seed with a 23-21 record, a noticeable step back from the team’s 25-15 regular season record a year ago.
Quinn’s history with the Seattle Storm
Quinn began her career with the Storm as a player, joining the team in 2013, where she started 20 games over the course of the 2013 and 2014 seasons. After a year and a half with the Phoenix Mercury, Quinn returned to the Storm in the middle of the 2016 season and stayed with the team until she retired following a WNBA championship with the Storm in 2018.
Quinn started one game and averaged 1.5 points per game during the 2018 championship season. She averaged 4.8 points on 39.6% shooting for her career.
Quinn’s coaching stats
After retiring as a player, Quinn immediately joined the Storm coaching staff as an assistant coach, taking over the head coaching position from Dan Hughes in mid-2021. Quinn lead the Storm to the postseason that year and reached the playoffs in four of her five years as head coach.
Quinn’s Storm only advanced past the first round of the WNBA playoffs once during her five-year tenure (2021). Her teams were 97-89 record in the regular season and 4-8 in the postseason.