The New York Excelsior (NYXL) have revealed their coaching staff for 2021, re-signing three from last year and adding Min-seong “Unknown” Kim as player manager and Geon-Yong “Sqix” Kim as an assistant coach. These re-signings include former head coach Yong-cheol “imt” Jeong, who has switched to an assistant role, and Ju-hyeop “WhyNot” Lee, who has become the new head coach. Besides that swap, general manager Yo-han “nuGget” Kim is staying on the same role on the NYXL 2021 coaching staff.
They’re ever-present and relentlessly dedicated behind the scenes: please give a warm welcome to our coaching staff for the 2021 season.
Head Coach: @WhyNot_ow
Coach: @OWSqix
Head of Data: @OWimt
General Manager: @arqnuGget
Player Manager: @Unknown_0771#EverUpward pic.twitter.com/sVouSw59WA— NYXL (@NYXL) December 23, 2020
The new additions
Starting with the two new coaches joining the staff, one was in the Overwatch League before while one was more around all esports. Sqix was most recently an assistant coach for the London Spitfire, who didn’t have a great 2020 season. However, with the situation and team they had, almost everyone on the team underperformed. Some players were sought after and moved teams, but the Spitfire wanted to rebuild for 2021 onwards. This led to their release of their entire roster and coaching staff, except for one player. However, it seems New York saw an opportunity for Sqix, and he joined their staff.
Unknown is a little more interesting as a player manager joining the team. He’s been hard to get information on, but what is obvious is his connections to T1. Also, he was a translator for a lot of famous League of Legends player Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, who also part owns T1. It seems his connections to players in many esports games has led him to becoming a good player manager, which New York clearly wanted.
The coaching swap
With the other coaches staying on the team, two happened to be changing roles for the 2021 season. Former assistant coach WhyNot has become their head coach, while former head coach IMT has become head of data. In terms of this swap, WhyNot has some experience leading a team from back in Korean contenders. Either way, after last year, it was clear NYXL needed some coaching changes to make their team better. With this modified coaching staff, they will look different from last year. The question is, will they improve?
