Two senior members of Team Coast’s management, business relations manager Nicole Manning and team manager Bryan “Zyto” Ybanez, are leaving the organization amid accusations of poor business practices.
Things began to unravel for Team Coast after its League Challenger Series regular season loss to Renegades on July 15. But after a lackluster series final and a failure to obtain the auto-qualification spot, things hit rock bottom. Managing Partner David Slan has allegedly failed to provide the team with money for groceries and has allegedly missed payments to both Ybanez and Manning, sources say.
In a statement to the Daily Dot, Manning said she had no desire to “talk shit” about the organization, but that she wasn’t happy recently.
“I have really tried to make a difference in this org,” Manning told the Daily Dot. “I thought things were looking good until recently.”
Manning declined to give specifics on why she was leaving, but emphasized it was wasn’t because of the loss to Renegades.
“Overall, I am not regretful that I worked for Coast,” she said. Working with Brandon “SaintVicious” DiMarco opened her eyes, she said, by showing her “how involved coaches SHOULD be.”
“Coast wouldn’t have made it to finals without [Ybanez] and Saint,” she said. “I wish the team luck. It was fun working with the players.”
The organization came under criticism last year when it dropped Greyson “Goldenglue” Gilmer and Keenan “Rhux” Santos in August 2014. On short notice, it replaced both players with Korean solo queue talents Park “Ringer” Sang-kyun and Yi “Miracle” Yong-woo. After a 0-3 defeat the hands of Evil Geniuses in the 2015 Spring Promotion Tournament, the roster move went down as one of the most controversial in the game’s history.
Coast qualified for the North American League Championship Series in December 2014, but play an abysmal season, going 1-13 with only a victory over Winterfox. As a result, the team once again made a heap of roster changes, merging with Challenger Series side Final Five, which was co-owned by Manning. With the merger, the team replaced Coast jungler Matt “Impaler” Taylor and Jamie “Sheep” Gallagher with Final Five support Kevin “KonKwon” Kwon and free agent Dillon “WelcomeToHeaven” Stayner.
Coast was ultimately relegated to the Challenger Series, while Final Five finished the split with a fourth-place finish. The organization underwent a fundamental organizational structuring—replacing multiple members of staff and beginning a “new era” for its history—led by Manning. Under Manning and Ybanez, the team placed first in the regular summer split of the Challenger Series, but now things seem to have a taken a downward turn.
Image via Riot Games | Remix by Jacob Wolf
