Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett has officially been signed by Immortals — as an assistant coach. If you’re scratching your head right now, know that you’re not the only one. After getting benched by Dignitas QNTMPAY, there were only a few options left for this seasoned veteran jungler: (1) he could sign for a different team and rebuild from the ground up, (2) move to a different region and try to “reinvent” himself, (3) become a full-time streamer, or (4) flat-out retire.

But taking on the role of assistant coach at Immortals? That’s the very definition of a curveball, and it might just be what the doctor ordered. It’s not the kind of role anyone expected him to assume, but it does make sense once you factor in some of his biggest strengths. Dardoch was always touted as a highly passionate in-game leader, as a young, mechanically gifted jungler whose temper was impossible to tame. But most of it came from a certain zeal and enthusiasm for the game. He was toxic, there’s no denying it, but at the very core of it all was an unrelenting urge to win — an urge that was seldom sated.

His passion — at least right now — can best be harnessed in a coaching position, and Immortals realized the same as well.

“I’d say I’m most excited to approach the team atmosphere at an LCS level from a coaching standpoint. Just being that figure behind all of the five players and kind of losing the stress of competition in general,” Dardoch said in the official announcement video. “I do think that I have an extensive amount of knowledge on an individual level about the game so I do think I can help all five players grow individually, and that’s going to be my role.”

Dardoch has long-standing ties with Immortals dating all the way back to December of 2016, so one could argue that this is quite a natural progression of his career. Whether it’ll be a fruitful one still remains to be seen, but there’s definitely a reason for optimism!