Recently, we have seen professional esports commentators increasingly make the move to coaching positions. What makes going from casting to coaching so difficult?
Coaching in esports is incredibly difficult. Organizing and developing an entire team takes a unique skill set that relatively few can utilize successfully. In recent years, we have seen an unprecedented number of esports broadcast talent and personalities make a lateral move to the competitive side. Joshua “Jatt” Leesman and Henry “HenryG” Greer were chief among the casters switching professions over to coaches, though both have little long-term success and had incredibly contentious runs in their respective title and team.
The drama and collapse of both rosters, Cloud9 and Team Liquid, begs the question, do casters ultimately make for poor coaches? Though we cannot objectively answer these questions for every caster turned into a potential coach, here are the reasons why these swaps may not work out.
Beyond game knowledge
Casters have significant game knowledge, reviewing hours of game footage and analysis teams would give anyone an intimate understanding of the esports title they work within. This is unquestionable, as during Jatt’s long stint as a broadcast talent, he ran some of the most in-depth content analysis, which is ultimately what landed him on a team as prestigious as Team Liquid. Talent cannot simply be dismissed as ‘personalities’ however this does not make them replacements for trained coaches.
Unfortunately for many casters, the coaching position extends beyond game knowledge. A majority of roster ‘implosions’ have been caused by internal, ‘personality’ or ‘attitude’ conflicts. The conflicts that arise mid-season are vastly different interpersonal skills than those on broadcast, as roster changes and losing streaks can create incredibly difficult team environments. Using Jatt as an example, Steve “Liquid112” Arhancet stated that the team conflict largely resulted from discussions after a loss. Ultimately, if a coach mismanages player discussions, it could have potentially diasterious results.
Working within an organization will largely be something new to many casters making the switch to a coach role. Depending on the team, a coach’s agency in team decisions may be contingent on the organization’s approval. This is by no means inherently negative, but this issue of bureaucracy could prove an unforeseen challenge. Onboarding a new coach may be as problematic as a player.
A different competitive environment
A regular competitive season, or circuit tournament, looks incredibly different on the side of a coach rather than a caster. Oftentimes, teams go through mid-season slumps or suffer from burnout. This occurs in both top of the standings teams who frequent competition so often they have little rest and ‘bottom tier’ teams as well. Casting a team going through one of these phases and diagnosing their issues is incredibly simpler than actually fixing them from the coach side.
Keeping morale high is similarly a responsibility of the coach that broadcast personalities likely have little experience in. Teams that are on loss streaks or underperforming can often cultivate a high-stress environment where players know that their jobs are on the line. Team Liquid’s League of Legends documentary, Breaking Point, shows just how these types of dynamics develop and can play out. Keeping a team in high spirits whenever everyone is well aware they are underperforming is a difficult task, but the hope and push for improvement is integral.
The transition from desk to stage means looking at a competitive season in an entirely new light, one that comes with all the consequences of defeat. Even when going to a top tier team, like our two examples, the inevitable coming of a slump is unavoidable, and recovering from this period is among the most important job of a coach.
The proliferation of the player coach
Player coaches on paper seem to make much clearer, logical sense. A player’s supposed high-ranking status in their title alone gives them an amount of credibility to their roster that is not inherent in a non-player coach. Players like Soren “Bjergsen” Bjergsen have successfully made the jump from active competitor to coach, in his first split getting TSM to third place and pushing for first in Summer. Dozens of former players have made the move to positional or academy coaching positions, head coach being somewhat of an outlier at the moment, and largely have shown an immense ability.
This jump from playing to coaching may also necessitate a certain level of achievement in their career, or longevity. These individuals also come with the understanding of organizations generally and how a competitive season from the inside looks. Even in their first season, this provides a level of familiarity that casters will likely have to overcome.
Ultimately, there are few things about casters that make them naturally better or worse coaches, however their separation from the game gives them very distinct challenges. In the case of Jatt or HenryG, it seems that these challenges got the better of them. Analysis and game knowledge, though important, are not the sole qualifications of a coach, and competitive experience, in any form, is what propels a good coach.
Also read:
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- League of Legends – How to play Ezreal
- Can Vitality break into the top 4 of the LEC? Fnatic wins their grudge match against G2
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