ShahZaM confirms Sentinels have already found new Valorant coach

On a Twitch stream, Sentinels’ Valorant captain Shahzeb ‘ShahZaM’ Khan said that the organization will soon reveal the team’s new head coach.

Sentinels have been searching for a new Valorant coach since mid-February, after they were unable to come to an agreement with FaZe to hire Shane ‘Rawkus’ Flaherty on a permanent basis due to what he described as “buyout complications.”

With the VCT NA Stage 1 Challengers tournament reaching the knockout stages, speculation surrounding Sentinels’ vacant coach position has been rampant. The tournament will qualify two teams for Stage 1 Masters, which will be held in Reykjavík from April 10-24.

On a March 15 Twitch stream, ShahZaM revealed that the team have already found a person to replace Rawkus. He did not confirm the identity of the new coach but stressed that fans will not have to wait long to find out who it is.

“Hopefully, we’re locking him in before playoffs,” ShahZaM told viewers. “We already have a coach, we just couldn’t get him locked before this match.”

The arrival of a new coach comes as a huge boost for Sentinels, who finished their group in third place with a 3-2 record. They are slated to meet The Guard, the tournament’s surprise package, in the upper bracket quarter-finals on March 18.

One of the names linked with the post is that of Sean Gares, the former CS:GO pro turned Valorant analyst. Gares revealed on March 14 that he had decided to get “more involved in the competitive scene” after being told by Riot that he would not be part of the on-air team for Masters 1.

Several days ago I received heartbreaking news that I didn’t make the talent cut for Masters 1 in Reykjavík. After receiving the news, I've decided to focus on getting more involved in the competitive scene, and will no longer be accepting broadcast talent positions.

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— Sean Gares (@seangares) March 14, 2022

ShahZam himself added to the speculation by tweeting an old picture where he appears next to Gares and Sentinels teammate Hunter ‘SicK’ Mims. The trio played CS:GO together under Misfits’ banner between 2017 and 2018.

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