Coaching isn’t easy. That’s why you need a team that’s willing to back you up.
After six years of lending his voice and analysis to the MPL Philippines broadcast, Caisam “Wolf” Nopueto heads to new ventures as the head coach of TNC Pro Team. The decorated caster and analyst has worked with professional teams before but this is his debut as a team’s head honcho.
While many will find his choice to shift focus and take responsibility for a team fitting, the decision wasn’t so clear on Wolf’s end. Wolf expressed that he needed to take a break from casting, especially for the sake of his own health.
“When you’re a shoutcaster you’re practically alone,” said Wolf as he recounts the difficulties of the job. “You tend to your own health, you buy your own clothes, you cook for yourself. You’re essentially taking care of yourself while taking care of whoever you’re responsible for.”
Why then would Wolf take on the role of head coach of TNC, an equally if not more stressful job? His answer was quite simple.
“When you’re coaching for an established organization, like TNC for example… iisipin mo lang ang trabaho mo. You don’t have to think about what’s your next meal, which for me can be a domino effect.”
He again cited difficulties with his health, difficulties that TNC has promised to help shoulder so that Wolf can concentrate on his work. “When there’s an organization who can help take care of those things… may malaking part na I’m thinking about on a monthly basis na nawawala. Coaching itself is difficult, just like casting, but with coaching at least you have a team behind you.”
The Next Steps for Coach Wolf
At the end of the day, however, Wolf has his work cut out for him as head coach of TNC. The team has been dead last in MPL PH for the last four seasons and turning that around will require a considerable amount of work.
When asked what were his initial plans for TNC, Wolf said that “with TNC you have to consider if you have the players to compete in a cutthroat region like MPL Philippines. Do you have the correct personnel for that? Second is the structure of the team. Structure is like a flowchart on how you want to approach a game. TNC didn’t have that and that’s what we’re trying to establish.”
As for his future plans and if we’ll ever see him on the casting desk again, “My stand on it right now is ‘I don’t want to think about it!’” said Wolf with a grin. “Di ko siya gustong isipin right now but shoutcasting will forever be a part of my life. In fact, when I was casting in MSC 2024 naiiyak na din ako but I kept in character.”
“I would want to go back to shoutcasting but at the same time, ito muna ang gusto kong tapusin. I’ll cross off all the possible achievements I can get as a head coach. And if I do go back, I think I’ll be a much better caster with everything I would’ve learned.”
Banner photo by MOONTON Games.
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