Daigneault is one of the youngest NBA coaches to have won a championship.
Mark Daigneault, the head of the Oklahoma City Thunder has emerged as one of the brightest coaching talents in the NBA during recent years. He became one of the youngest coaches in the league to win a championship. Daigneault began his coaching career in 2007 as an assistant coach for Holy Cross and Florida before joining the Thunder franchise.
Born in 1985, Daigneault attended Leominster High School in Leominster, Massachusetts. He went to the University of Connecticut, and during his collegiate career, he served as a student manager for the UConn Huskies from 2003 to 2007. While he wanted to pursue his masters, Huskies head coach Jim Calhoun urged him to pursue a coaching career. This marked the beginning of Mark Daigneault’s coaching career.
Mark Daigneault served as an assistant coach at Holy Cross, and guided the team to a runners-up position in the Patriot League Championship during the 2008-09 season. Later, he served for the Florida Gators, and helped the team win three SEC titles and an Elite Eight appearance each season.
Daigneault joined the Thunder franchise in 2014 as a head coach for the Oklahoma City Blue. He went on to join Billy Donovan’s coaching staff during the 2015-16 NBA season. The 40-year-old moved back to the Blue for the next four seasons. In his fifth and final season, he became the longest tenured coach in the history of the franchise.
His tenure with the Thunder began again in 2019, when Daigneault was named as an assistant coach under Billy Donovan. After Donovan left, he was named as the OKC Thunder’s new head coach, becoming the fourth head coach in the team’s history. In addition, he was also the second youngest head coach at the time in the NBA.
Under him, the Thunder rebuilt themselves, and finished the first season under Daigneault’s guidance with a 22-50 record. After a decent second season, he emerged as one of the best coaches in the NBA as the Thunder improved to a 40-42 record. In 2024, he won the NBA Coach of the Year Award for the 2023-24 season, joining Scott Brooks as the only Thunder coach to win the award. Daigneault won his first NBA championship in the 2025 NBA Finals.
Born to Rick Daigneault, a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and member of the Crusader baseball team, Mark Daigneault married Ashley Kerr, who like her husband, has made a name in sports coaching. Kerr serves as an assistant coach for Women’s Gymnastics at the University of Oklahoma, and married Mark Daigneault in August 2019. The couple share two children, a son named Alex John “AJ” Daigneault, born in 2021, and a daughter named Stella, born in April 2023.
While the exact figure of his net worth or salary isn’t available, Marca suggests that his annual income could be around $4 million. According to sources, his net worth in 2025 would range from $5 million to $8 million. The figure is expected to rise significantly if remains in the current trajectory of his career.
Yes, Mark Daigneault won the NBA Coach of Year Award for the 2023-24 season.
Mark Daigneault began his coaching career with Holy Cross. He then joined the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s G-League affiliate, and was their head coach for five seasons. Daigneault then moved to coach Oklahoma City Thunder following the departure of Billy Donovan.
Mark Daigneault is the son of Rick Daigneault, who is a 1980 graduate of Holy Cross and a former member of the Crusader baseball team.
Mark Daigneault, and his wife Ashley Kerr, have two children, a girl and a boy. The couple’s son, Alex John “AJ” Daigneault was born in 2021, and their daughter named Stella was born in April 2023.
Yes, Mark Daigneault played basketball for his high school team, Leominster High School. He also attended former NBA assistant coach Mark Osowski’s youth basketball camp as a child.
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