Ninjas in Pyjamas has signed Daniel “djL” Narancic as its new CS:GO coach, the organization announced today.
DjL will be taking over for Björn “THREAT” Pers, who was NiP’s head coach until the middle of December 2021. Since then, he’s taken on the role of technical director. “Daniel is a perfect fit for us—an upcoming coach talent who up until now has shown promising results with limited resources,” NiP said.
The 27-year-old is a former player who tried his luck as a pro on teams like Japaleno, Chaos Esports Club, and Epsilon Esports. But he didn’t find much success with any of those squads, which led to a change in djL’s career. By the end of 2019, he started coaching and has been in the role since then, with a one-month exception in the spring of 2020.
His first job in the new role was with GamerLegion, where djL spent four months. Later on, he gained coaching experience as a part of c0ntact and Copenhagen Flames, winning BLAST Rising 2021 with the latter. For the past few months, he’s been a part of Apeks.
But the Norwegian org failed to qualify for any A-tier tournaments and didn’t shine during other lower-tier events in Europe. Thus, by the end of last year, it decided to completely overhaul its roster. Apeks has already completed its starting lineup by signing players like nawwk, jkaem, and STYKO. Now, with djL moving on, the organization will have to look for a new coach.
NiP probably have high hopes going into 2022. The organization hasn’t won a big event in CS:GO since Intel Extreme Masters XII – Oakland in November 2017.
