koi: "I think North America is my end goal [as a coach]"

For Dust2.us' final interview of Fragadelphia 16: Chicago, Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore had a chance to sit down with Colin "koi" Thor from Davenport University. They discussed koi's time with MOUZ in 2021, the rise of American coaches in Europe, and his early impressions from working with Davenport University, among other topics.

I think it is pretty safe to describe 2021 as something of a breakout year for you as a coach. For those who don't know, you were the assistant coach of MOUZ for around four months, helping the team during IEM Cologne, ESL Pro League Season 14, and PGL Stockholm 2021 to name a few events. Can you discuss how you ended up on MOUZ as your first international coaching gig?

In 2020 I had some experience coaching in Premier with some friends of mine. Then I took a break from coaching to be a player with Michigan Tech. While I was at Michigan Tech I spent a lot of time looking into the psychology of coaching and things like that because I was still interested it in even though I was playing. From there I ended up forming a relationship with mithR who was the head coach for MOUZ. I didn't have a great second semester and as a result I chose to take a break from school and I decided to move to Croatia and try my hand at coaching again. Along the way I asked mithR if he would be willing to help me out and find some opportunities for me in Europe. I was very fortunate that he offered me a trial spot immediately on MOUZ. After that I was integrated into the team from day one all the way back to IEM Cologne even.

Flashing forward a bit, in the transition from 2021 to 2022 MOUZ released you as part of their larger changes within the CS:GO division. What happened there?

With ropz leaving the team it ultimately came down to a complete restructure of the existing roster. mithR left to join Apeks Rebels and he's having a great time over there. But because there was such a systemic change in both the style the team was going to be playing without ropz and with the head coach leaving it was decided they wanted a complete fresh start all over again. They chose not to renew my contract for 2022. At the end of the day I was a little bit sorry but I think got the value I wanted out of it at the time. I'm still friends with all the players which I think is the most important part because it wasn't that the players didn't want me around, it was a staffing thing with the organization.

As someone with knowledge of the inner workings of MOUZ and MOUZ NXT, how do you rate this new MOUZ lineup? Do you think it has the potential to as successful as the ropz-based MOUZ lineup?

I think that this MOUZ roster may be a little bit of a downgrade at first but I think that they definitely have the ability to build back in a more synergetic way than the previous roster. I don't know much about NBK- personally but I know torzsi is a very driven individual and I'm sure he's going to put in the hours and the effort where it counts. I think that's something that will be very reflective in MOUZ's first few matches.

I feel like your addition to MOUZ is reflective of a larger trend in the CS:GO ecosystem with European organizations becoming increasingly interested in NA coaches and analysts. I feel like this was basically unheard of before 2020 so what do you think precipitated this change?

I'm not certain if it is because of NA talent being better or just the fact that there's much more NA talent that aren't signed. A lot of what you see nowadays is tier one organizations are signing more and more support staff in an effort to bridge the gap between the top teams in the scene and where they are. Coaching in North America offers a very unique opportunity in the sense that you can coach very remotely, the ping and distance don't matter. The fact that you are English fluent already is a big bonus. [That fact that] you can have these NA Premier coaches just flex into that European system at odd hours of the day is a really big advantage. I think it's the combination of NA coaches finding increased salary opportunities in EU as well as the need for additional talent in the support staff in these organizations.

Do you think this is a net positive for the North American scene or does it primarily benefit these European organizations?

I believe it will be a net positive, because deep down in my heart, and in some other people who have made the jump, they still want to help out their North American comrades if you will. A lot of the experience and the information that we gather slowly trickles back into North America which is why there are a lot of successful rosters starting to form in North America at the moment. Overall it will be a net positive and help bridge the gap pretty quickly.

You're here at Fragadelphia 16: Chicago with Davenport University. What are your expectations overall for this event?

The past couple weeks have been very intensive when it comes to restructuring the way things operate and working with some of the players on their personal walls. My goals and expectations are to see where we stack up against other Advanced and Premier competition. Scrims and online officials are one thing but when it comes to a high-stress match environment I don't think anything can simulate a LAN.

A few months ago I had the chance to talk to Walco while RBG were prepping for ESL Pro League Season 15 Conference. One thing he really touched on in that interview was that the EU practice environment completely blows North America out of the water. Do you agree with that statement?

I'm very fortunate that the team I'm with right now, Davenport, allows me to be a very focused and structured coach during practices and we act and operate like that whether we are at our LAN facility or practicing online. But, in the vast majority of cases I'd say the EU practice regimen is so much more professional and serious. In Europe it is a proper 9 to 5 or 10 to 6 while in NA it is in the evenings because people have work and school. I don't think there's a real way around that necessarily because for the vast majority of North American roster they'll never be making enough money to live full-time off of it. Europe is very fortunate to be able to do that. I think that's one of the major reasons behind it because in EU it is their full-time job.

Which teams have you been most impressed with so far in Chicago?

I'm excited to see what Strife does with their current stand-ins. I think the structural changes that have made them really good since the addition of crisby won't be in effect here and it will come down to individual players like cxzi and Wilky. I don't think it will mesh immediately. I'm also excited to see florence's stack [Kinship Black]. I think they have a lot of individual talent and a lot of experience playing together from PUGs. I think that chemistry will take them far.

Which players have impressed you the most thus far in your time with Davenport?

Coming into the team CoJoMo is the most impressive player for me based off of my previous expectations. It is very very rare that you come across an AWPer that is as flexible and willing to put in the effort and re-learn everything he knows. To have that open mind and that flexibility has really paid off; I don't think I've ever see someone grow as much in two weeks as I have with CoJoMo. I'd also like to give a shoutout to Pugg for the amount of hours he is willing to put in. I have to make sure I'm balancing him out because burnout is a thing and I worry about that sometimes but his level of commitment to himself and bettering the team is a huge boon to the team and the program as a whole.

There have been reports linking you to Israeli organization Finest. I don't know how much you can discuss this but you have been on the server with the team in a few matches. Looking towards the future where do you see yourself headed as a coach? Do you want to stay in NA or orient more towards Europe?

That's a tough one. For me personally I like to follow both what grows me as a person and what I can give back if that makes sense. As of today, Finest is the best opportunity I have to grow myself I feel so that's why I'm 100% committed to Finest and Davenport. Finest is an opportunity to grow myself whereas Davenport is a way for me to give back to North America. That's why I'm doing the split team setup at the moment. I don't necessarily think I have a future in EU just because of living away from home and the constant hours.

At the end of the day I think North America is my end goal; I'm just more attached to the community and I have a sense of patriotism associated with it. It is ultimately my dream to have a North American player lift the Major trophy again. But, at the same time the reason I'm so committed to Finest is I need to grow myself a lot and I feel that working with European teams, especially one of the caliber of Finest, is a great way to grow as a coach. Down the road when I do come back to North America in a full-time sense I think this experience will help me be able to take a team to Pro League or to the Major.

Unfortunately, shortly after this interview, Finest ended koi's trial as the team's head coach and are evaluating their options for the future. Davenport University, meanwhile, will be making their debut in ESEA Advanced Season 40 on February 1st against Mythic at 8PM EST.