Five Position-Specific Coaches: Golden Guardians Bring Something New To The LCS
Since the creation of League of Legends as an esport, the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) hasn’t necessarily been the prime example of having good coaching. In reality, coaches are hard to come by, there aren’t many people who are both knowledgeable of the game while also containing leadership qualities that allow for level-headed discussion and delegation. That’s where Golden Guardians’ hiring of five assistant coaches - all position-specific - on top of already having a head coach comes as a surprise.
In a league that really made its first serious attempts at coaching when it decided to bring together the expertise and knowledge of what it takes to be a leading coach from a more traditional sports background, with an analyst type to give the Xs and Os, it has come a long way.
Click to enlargePast this sort of short-lived coaching era, a more natural one came to fruition. One that saw the LCS have tenured coaches that have put in their work in several regions, be it in the West with Europe and North America, or in the East with China and Korea. There is also what has become more of the norm in players turning into coaches. This has allowed for a stronger foundation for players to lean their backs on when the going gets rough as well it’s allowed them to focus more on the individualistic aspects of the game.
There have been many successful coaches in the North American scene. One can point out numerous specifically. For starters, one player who could be considered one of the most successful in the LCS specifically is Bok "Repeared" Han-gyu. He performed wonders over at Cloud9, and has proven his ability to replicate success now in 100 Thieves. He came in as a finishing move for the Thieves to complete their LCS summer split heist of winning their first championship. The league can also look at region-native coaches such as Anthony "Zikz" Gray and Parth "Parth" Naidu, who have brought in several LCS titles themselves on Counter Logic Gaming and Team SoloMid, respectively.
The LCS can also add the likes of Europe getting Peter Dun for Evil Geniuses and Andre "Guilhoto" Pereira Guilhoto, who now will coach the upcoming Team Liquid superteam. This doesn’t mean that LCS watchers shouldn’t forget about the newer, maybe lesser-known coaches such as Golden Guardian’s Nicholas "Inero" Smith who after a poor start to the spring was able to help mould a newer roster come summer.
The evolution in coaching has continued, with the aforementioned Golden Guardian’s coaching staff of one head coach and five role-specific coaches. Something that has never been seen before in the league.
From top to bottom, there will be coaches to help every single player in the roster. Brandon "Swip3R" Holland for top lane, Samuel "Spookz" Broadley for jungle, Aaron "ChuChuz" for mid-lane, former starting ADC for the team Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes for ADC and Morgan "Hustling" Granberg for support.
This coaching style is far from the norm, especially for a league like the LCS, but it’s very welcomed. In a now franchised league as of 2018, risks like these are more than welcome, especially for an organisation that hasn’t necessarily performed amongst the top apart from the 2020 summer roster that ended up under 100 Thieves’ contracts.
Whether it’ll work, that’s up for time to decide. In the end, attempts like these are only good for the league. Learning can be had, and who knows, if it ends up working this could be a severe shift in how coaching works.