The New York Liberty have parted ways with Chris DeMarco after just one season as head coach, following an underwhelming first year for the 41-year-old at Barclays Center.

DeMarco took on the role last November as a replacement for Sandy Brondello following more than a decade of experience building a championship dynasty with the NBA's Golden State Warriors, yet less than 12 months later, he has been ousted from his position.

This past season, DeMarco led the Liberty to a 26-18 record and a place in the semifinals of the 2026 WNBA Playoffs, which included a shocking upset of the Minnesota Lynx in the first round, and also delivered Commissioner's Cup success in June.

Unfortunately for DeMarco, it has not been considered sufficient to warrant keeping him on for a second term, with ESPN's Alexa Philippou reporting on Tuesday that the Liberty will not retain him as head coach for 2027.

It marks DeMarco as the second consecutive New York head coach to be fired, after Brondello was let go last offseason, and means the Liberty will now seek their third head coach in three years, with general manager Jonathan Kolb set to lead the search once more.

The decision comes approximately three-and-a-half weeks after the Liberty's final game of the season on Oct. 9 - an 85-83 defeat to the Atlanta Dream in the third game of their best-of-five semi-final in the WNBA Playoffs, a result that confirmed their elimination from the post-season tournament.

Following the game, Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu were asked about DeMarco's future, to which they offered little to indicate they had his full support.

"I mean, I don't know what's going to happen," Ionescu said. "Regardless, thankful for him coaching us this year and obviously giving us a chance. And we just fell short."

"That's not our say," Jones said. "Our job is to go out there and play good basketball and represent the organization well, represent the fan base well, and our families. And I think we do a good job of focusing on that. And it is what it is."

Breanna Stewart, who was recently selected to the 2026 All-WNBA First Team after another impressive campaign, echoed those sentiments, openly criticizing the team's lack of consistency under DeMarco.

"Yeah. I think it's just tough to talk or think about that right now," Stewart said. "Echoing what they said, those decisions aren't ours. But I think my focus, and what I'm thinking about right now, is just [a] missed opportunity, you know what I mean?"

Consistent struggles to manage late-game scenarios and rotation adjustments are seen as the biggest factors behind DeMarco's dismissal, as the Liberty's championship-caliber roster drastically underperformed its lofty expectations.

The final straw for many was a massive tactical error in Game 2 of the semifinals against Atlanta, where DeMarco and his staff failed to realize they had a reset timeout remaining in overtime, contributing heavily to a narrow 101-98 loss.