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Active: 654 users

TSM releases head coach KC "Woodbuck"

Forum Index > LoL General
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
Zess
Profile Joined July 2012
Adun Toridas!9144 Posts
February 17 2016 01:30 GMT
#1


TSM has officially announced the departure of their head coach, citing dissatisfaction with his progress on improving the out-of-game cohesion and performance of the team.

KC was released yesterday on February 15th in the evening. Initially, we brought him on with the expectation that he would be the “Life Coach” or “Out of Game Coach”. His duties as a life coach was to help players maintain healthy relationships amongst each other, with their own lives, and to help them maintain a competitive mindset throughout the season. At the beginning, we felt that he had a lot of great ideas regarding how to achieve this, and his background in traditional sports seemed to be a solid fit.

We wanted to keep KC on and try to work with him through the situations that arose, but he was unable to progress at a rate where he could become the coach we needed given our limited time. He was unable to transition his background into the esports scene, causing a lack of understanding between him and the players. While his methods may have been effective in a traditional sports setting, it was ineffective for our team.

With this being said, we would like to thank KC for his efforts and time with us. We wish him good luck on his future endeavors. Currently, we have several candidates in mind as a suitable replacement in his position, and we will give an update as soon as it is available.


http://www.tsm.gg/index.php/news/tsm-coach-changes/
Administrator@TL_Zess
| (• ◡•)|八 (❍ᴥ❍ʋ)
JimmiC
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
Canada22817 Posts
February 17 2016 02:06 GMT
#2
--- Nuked ---
Zess
Profile Joined July 2012
Adun Toridas!9144 Posts
February 17 2016 02:20 GMT
#3
Yea I'm not sure what TSM can do to fix their problems but just based on my experience working with teams changing leadership frequently doesn't really help
Administrator@TL_Zess
| (• ◡•)|八 (❍ᴥ❍ʋ)
Hider
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Denmark9384 Posts
February 17 2016 02:33 GMT
#4
On February 17 2016 11:20 Zess wrote:
Yea I'm not sure what TSM can do to fix their problems but just based on my experience working with teams changing leadership frequently doesn't really help


He just shouldn't have been hired in the first place. I actually pointed it out months ago: LOL knowledge is not irrelevant in coaching position - even if your not the strategic coach. But I think Reginald fell for him spamming buzzwords during the interview. Thorin had a very good video on the subject showcasing some of the issues with him.
MooMooMugi
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States10531 Posts
February 17 2016 03:06 GMT
#5
I love the sustainability of this job market
|LoL & SC2 IGN both my username| Just livin' the baylife| Hearthstone ID: MooMooMugi#1544| Dank Memer since 2011
wei2coolman
Profile Joined November 2010
United States60033 Posts
February 17 2016 03:48 GMT
#6
I'm surprised they never picked up the CLG coach from s5, he looked like he did a really good job. (imo he must of really fucked up in CLG),
liftlift > tsm
Ethelis
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
United States2396 Posts
February 17 2016 03:55 GMT
#7
On February 17 2016 12:48 wei2coolman wrote:
I'm surprised they never picked up the CLG coach from s5, he looked like he did a really good job. (imo he must of really fucked up in CLG),


AFAIK it was because when it came to re-signing the players he suggested that they look out for their interests and not only CLG's.
Disabled gamer - Diamond 3 (LoL) D+ Rank scrublord on BW. Bisu doesnt need DTs, He uses probes. just ask Flash.
wei2coolman
Profile Joined November 2010
United States60033 Posts
February 17 2016 03:59 GMT
#8
On February 17 2016 12:55 Ethelis wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 17 2016 12:48 wei2coolman wrote:
I'm surprised they never picked up the CLG coach from s5, he looked like he did a really good job. (imo he must of really fucked up in CLG),


AFAIK it was because when it came to re-signing the players he suggested that they look out for their interests and not only CLG's.

Sounds like wise advice tbh. lol.
liftlift > tsm
Gahlo
Profile Joined February 2010
United States35147 Posts
February 17 2016 04:44 GMT
#9
On February 17 2016 11:33 Hider wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 17 2016 11:20 Zess wrote:
Yea I'm not sure what TSM can do to fix their problems but just based on my experience working with teams changing leadership frequently doesn't really help


He just shouldn't have been hired in the first place. I actually pointed it out months ago: LOL knowledge is not irrelevant in coaching position - even if your not the strategic coach. But I think Reginald fell for him spamming buzzwords during the interview. Thorin had a very good video on the subject showcasing some of the issues with him.

Thorin had a shit video where he made a bunch of assumptions and phrased them as facts because it sounds good and since it's about TSM people will eat it up. The problem with Woodbuck is that he couldn't relate to esports competitors.
Volband
Profile Joined March 2011
Hungary6034 Posts
February 17 2016 05:35 GMT
#10
That statement reminded me of Elementz (the player), who tried to introduce that group hug and shout before every game with Coast. I doubt it had nearly the effect compared to when you do it before a traditional team sport.

And if KC was a life-coach only, why the hell was he even there after\before games? That is just stupid. It should be the analyst or whoevers job to discuss the games and moving forward strategically, not the life coach's. Sure, if someone gets a nervous-breakdown or something, then go ahead, cheer him up, but that's about it.

I really wish the scene wouldn't bastardize the word "coach" anymore.
Gahlo
Profile Joined February 2010
United States35147 Posts
February 17 2016 12:06 GMT
#11
On February 17 2016 14:35 Volband wrote:
That statement reminded me of Elementz (the player), who tried to introduce that group hug and shout before every game with Coast. I doubt it had nearly the effect compared to when you do it before a traditional team sport.

And if KC was a life-coach only, why the hell was he even there after\before games? That is just stupid. It should be the analyst or whoevers job to discuss the games and moving forward strategically, not the life coach's. Sure, if someone gets a nervous-breakdown or something, then go ahead, cheer him up, but that's about it.

I really wish the scene wouldn't bastardize the word "coach" anymore.

Jarge was there for pregame, postgame, and PB.
Zato-1
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Chile4253 Posts
February 17 2016 13:43 GMT
#12
Well, from player comments (or lack thereof) I gathered that he wasn't a great help. Players usually give credit to their support staff during interviews and such and I don't recall a single instance of TSM players acknowledging how helpful their head coach was... and it wasn't for a lack of interviews. He didn't look great either in the (very limited) camera time he's had in TSM legends and such.

Working with this very limited info, it SEEMS that he wasn't doing a good job, and if that's the case, then it's good that they parted with him sooner rather than later.
Go here http://vina.biobiochile.cl/ and input the Konami Code (up up down down left right left right B A)
oo_Wonderful_oo
Profile Blog Joined December 2013
The land of freedom23126 Posts
February 17 2016 13:44 GMT
#13
On February 17 2016 12:48 wei2coolman wrote:
I'm surprised they never picked up the CLG coach from s5, he looked like he did a really good job. (imo he must of really fucked up in CLG),


Chris seems to be working with Echo Fox though.
LiquidLegends StaffFPL 25 #1 | tfw I cast games on-air | back-to-back Liquibet winner
Ansibled
Profile Joined November 2014
United Kingdom9872 Posts
February 17 2016 13:47 GMT
#14
Almost like sports coaching is completely unrelated to league of legends or something. /shrug
'StarCraft is just a fairy tale told to scare children actually.'
TL+ Member
BrownBear
Profile Joined March 2010
United States6894 Posts
February 17 2016 13:50 GMT
#15
Releasing a coach midseason is never a good look for a team, even a coach who is doing as little as KC apparently was.

Also, 7-3 start to the split and sole possession of 2nd place despite all these issues is actually pretty impressive. Although it might be saying more about the state of non-IMT NA competition...
SUNSFANNED
ticklishmusic
Profile Blog Joined August 2011
United States15977 Posts
February 17 2016 14:48 GMT
#16
i think the idea of having a team coach with a traditional sports background was a decent one, kc just wasnt the guy
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Hider
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Denmark9384 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-02-17 23:34:13
February 17 2016 23:25 GMT
#17
On February 17 2016 13:44 Gahlo wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 17 2016 11:33 Hider wrote:
On February 17 2016 11:20 Zess wrote:
Yea I'm not sure what TSM can do to fix their problems but just based on my experience working with teams changing leadership frequently doesn't really help


He just shouldn't have been hired in the first place. I actually pointed it out months ago: LOL knowledge is not irrelevant in coaching position - even if your not the strategic coach. But I think Reginald fell for him spamming buzzwords during the interview. Thorin had a very good video on the subject showcasing some of the issues with him.

Thorin had a shit video where he made a bunch of assumptions and phrased them as facts because it sounds good and since it's about TSM people will eat it up. The problem with Woodbuck is that he couldn't relate to esports competitors.


Well Thorin has a habit of doing that, but I think his "analysis" of Woodbucks Reddit comments in the AMA thread was spot on. (spamming buzzwords, plus seemed to lack an actual understanding of what the actual issues could be). On the other hand, I thought the AMA from the Immortals sports-coach guy was more reasonable (read: less buzzwords, more practical approach).

A guy like Woodbuck should probably be hired as the PR manager for a team. Yeh that may sound like a joke, but I am half-serious; think about it: He is great at making Reddit comments that makes people like him/make him appear sympathic. Not everyone can do that.

Working with this very limited info, it SEEMS that he wasn't doing a good job, and if that's the case, then it's good that they parted with him sooner rather than later.


Yeh, and I believe I said this around a month or ago, but I only saw one of two possibilities:
(1) Either he could be a fly on the wall that basically does nothing or
(2) He could be the guy that tries to keep him self somewhat relevant, but in this proces he is likely to just be annoying.

I think the latter probably was the case, and alot of the players probably find his "talks" annoying and ackward, and they saw little upside with having on the team the split out.
MaestroSC
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
United States2073 Posts
February 18 2016 00:33 GMT
#18
On February 17 2016 23:48 ticklishmusic wrote:
i think the idea of having a team coach with a traditional sports background was a decent one, kc just wasnt the guy


My whole issue... isnt they arent mutually exclusive.

There are literally millions of people who have played real sports their whole life, even had coaching and analytical roles, and still understand League of Legends.

Hiring a guy, simply because he was a coaching assistant at USC... seems like a joke, if he cant handle interacting with these people whose lifestyle he cant even begin to understand, because it just isn't his thing.

The whole point of his role was supposed to be unity, cohesion, and focusing on the relationships among the players...but when you have a guy who cant relate to your players, how is he going to help their relationships with eachother?

"Hey guys... we should do a team cheer after every game... because, like, you do that a lot in team sports growing up and stuff."

Ive participated in sports my whole life, had a coaching role in both traditional and non traditional sports my whole, and have followed competitive gaming since 2007, and have followed League since its inception...

like I am not that rare of a person in this day and age. There are literally millions of people who understand traditional sports AND esports.Like there is no point in selecting someone for the position who was either/or.
Volband
Profile Joined March 2011
Hungary6034 Posts
February 18 2016 13:09 GMT
#19
On February 17 2016 22:50 BrownBear wrote:
Releasing a coach midseason is never a good look for a team, even a coach who is doing as little as KC apparently was.

I disagree. If something is clearly not working, hell, might even gets the opposite result of what was expected then get rid of it ASAP. Having no coach, or should I say, ""coach"", for a few weeks is still better, than having an incompetent one.

Well, it's obviously not true in traditional sports, where the coach is the person who does the strategic part of the game as well.
JimmiC
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
Canada22817 Posts
February 18 2016 14:42 GMT
#20
--- Nuked ---
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