The Thunder hired Mark Daigneault as the head coach for their G-League team, the Oklahoma City Blue, in 2014. Few could have imagined then that he would one day be leading OKC into the NBA Finals.
Daigneault spent five years as the head coach for the Blue before being promoted to an assistant with the Thunder. In 2020, he replaced Billy Donovan as OKC’s head coach. Daigneault was only 35 when he took over at the helm of the Thunder. Since then, he has emerged as one of the best young head coaches in the league.
It hasn’t hurt that the organization has found a star in guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and has pieced together a great supporting cast that emphasizes defense and plays off each other, but there’s no doubt that Daigneault’s steady leadership has been a big reason why the Thunder have the look of a future dynasty.
Here’s more on Daigneault, including his age and career timeline.
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How old is Mark Daigneault?
Daigneault was born on Feb. 23, 1985. He is 40, making him the third-youngest coach in the NBA. Daigneault took over for Donovan, who had been the Thunder’s head coach since 2016. After the 2020 season, he and the Thunder couldn’t agree on a new contract, so the two sides parted ways, with Donovan landing in Chicago and OKC going with Daigneault.
Mark Daigneault career timeline
Daigneault played college basketball at Connecticut and Florida. He didn’t go on to play professionally. Instead, he turned to coaching.
- Holy Cross assistant 2007-2010
- Florida assistant 2010-2014
- Oklahoma City Blue head coach 2014-2019
- Oklahoma City Thunder assistant head coach 2016, 2019-2020
- Oklahoma City Thunder head coach 2020-present
Donovan was the head coach at the University of Florida from 1996-2015. Daigneault played for him when he was with the Gators, then joined Donovan’s Gators’ staff as his assistant in 2010. He became the head coach for the Blue the year before Donovan joined OKC as the head coach.
Daigneault once again was an assistant to Donovan in 2016 and again in the 2019-2020 season. When Donovan and the Thunder parted ways, Daigneault took over as the head coach.
Daigneault coached 250 games with the Blue and amassed a 143-107 record. Through five seasons with the Thunder, he has a 211-189 record through 400 regular-season games.
