In his first season on the Chicago Sky bench, coach Tyler Marsh has great trust in the staff he hired.
One member knows the rookie coach better than anyone.
Marsh brought on his father, Donnie Marsh, as a basketball operations specialist. The move was more than a family favor. Donnie brings more than four decades of coaching experience at 13 men’s college programs, including Division I head coaching stints at Florida International and Alabama A&M.
“It was a conversation I had as soon as I was offered the job and I was asked about my potential staff, and (Donnie) was one of the names that I brought up,” Tyler told the Tribune. “Management and ownership were all for it.
“It was a very short conversation with my dad. He was (excited). It’s an extremely proud moment for myself and for our family.”
While Donnie led Alabama A&M for only one season in 2017-18, it was a notable stop. One of his assistants was Tyler, in his first college coaching job after four years in the NBA Development League.
With the Sky, now it’s Tyler’s show. Donnie reports to his son as he develops ways for Sky players to fit into Tyler’s system, and they are embracing being co-workers.
“In terms of me being his boss, I get a few extra rides in to work every day, so that helps,” Tyler said at a recent pregame news conference.
Donnie said when Tyler first offered him the job, his wife, LaRoyce, “said to put me on a 90-day probation.”
“If (he’s) not doing stuff the right way, you can always fire him,” LaRoyce told Tyler, according to Donnie.
LaRoyce is enjoying the pairing of her husband and son and may be having the most fun out of the three.
“She loves it now that I’m the head coach and he’s one of the assistants,” Tyler said. “She’s always giving him stuff about it and making sure that he stays in line for me.”
At Alabama A&M, Donnie put Tyler in charge of player development, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses and creating strategies to help them grow. Donnie saw early that Tyler had what it takes to lead.
“The thing that really stood out was he didn’t just come in, cookie-cutter it and say, ‘This is what we’re all doing for player development,’” Donnie said. “That made me say, ‘You know what? He gets it.’
“I learned over the course of the next few years in watching him, how he developed from an offensive standpoint (and how) his creative mind got out. I always ask myself, ‘Where did this guy come from?’”
Tyler said the knowledge he gained from his dad was “second to none.” Growing up with Donnie — a third-round NBA draft pick by the Atlanta Hawks in 1979 — Tyler observed how his dad prepared for games, the way he treated others and how he instilled belief in younger players. He is applying those lessons to his first head coaching gig.
“Everything that I experienced working under him were things that I saw growing up my whole life,” Tyler said. “That’s something that I try to carry with myself in my own coaching career.”
Donnie thinks the most important part of being a leader is building bonds with players. In the first handful of Sky games, he saw how the players responded to his son.
“If you don’t have a relationship with the people that you’re trying to get to do the things that you want to get done, then it rarely works,” Donnie said. “You get players to buy into your system and your style and how you want to do things once you connect with them as people. That’s what the players have seen about him, and it’s been neat to see him go through that.”
Sky players have connected with Donnie as well. He can be seen on the practice court working with them, and Tyler has taken notice.
“They call him ‘Pops’ on the staff, so it makes it easy,” Tyler said. “From a mentorship standpoint, his ability to connect to a younger crowd — even at the age (69) that he’s at — it’s been invaluable for me,”
Tyler’s son, Jaxxson, 2, could have the chance to extend the family’s coaching tree in the future. Dad and Granddad had different reactions to that hypothetical.
“If I can help it, no,” Tyler said with a laugh. “The greatest thing about coaching is the ability to connect people through the game. If he’s able to be impactful through coaching, whether that’s basketball or any sport, then I’m all for it.”
“Yes for me, probably no for (Tyler),” Donnie said with a smile. “This is a special time for me, a special time for him and really special for me to be around Jaxxson.”
The goal this season is to set a winning standard in Chicago. It may take time, but the Marsh family is committed.
“We want to do something special for this organization, for this community, for the city and mostly for our players,” Tyler said. “(We) want them to succeed and you want good things to come to them, and so that’s where our hearts and our focus is.”
