Update (December 23rd 2023): Jacob ‘mini’ Harris (coach mini) has returned to Fnatic as Assistant Coach for their Valorant team.
He said: “I’ve been a bit quiet about my decision to drop from Head Coach and I didn’t have anything prepared today, but I’ll do an interview at some point!
“I would like to make it clear that I am the *assistant* coach and that my job will be to support and enable Elmapuddy and his vision.”
Fnatic Valorant Head Coach Elmapuddy added: “It’s only been a few weeks so far but mini has unsurprisingly been great to work with. Glad to have him staying at Fnatic.”
Original article (September 11th 2023):
UK Valorant coach Jacob ‘mini’ Harris has announced his decision to step back as head coach of Fnatic’s Valorant team.
He made the announcement on his X social media page earlier today.
“I noted to Fnatic around six months ago that there was a good chance I wouldn’t be re-signing next year as a Head Coach, in search for a better work-life balance,” coach mini said.
“Whilst conversations continue with Fnatic to figure out a suitable future, my contract has ended so I will also be looking at offers from other teams. The roles I would be most interested in are assistant coaching or GMing, I am open to exploring other roles if it made sense.
“I’d like to thank Fnatic for putting a lot of trust in me over the past three years, all the boys I’ve coached over my career, all those I’ve worked with at Fnatic, and everyone who has supported us! I have grown a lot from this experience but I would just like to be “Jacob Harris” a bit more and not “mini” 24/7 (Jacob’s a lot more relaxed. Unfortunately, both are equally short).”
Coach Mini added this is something he’s struggled with ‘for some time’, and gave a special shoutout to UK Valorant star Jake ‘Boaster’ Howlett.
The pair have worked together for some time, having been on the team SUMN FC before they were acquired by Fnatic a few years ago, during the early days of Valorant esports.
Prior to this, Jacob played in the Counter-Strike space.
Coach Mini has had an impressive stint with Fnatic, especially this year, with Fnatic winning the likes of Lock/In and Fnatic also winning VCT Masters Tokyo.
Fnatic’s Valorant team director Colin ‘CoJo’ Johnson also said that Fnatic are opening applications for the vacant head coach position.
Update: Chris ‘Elmapuddy’ Tebbit joined as head coach following Mini’s departure, and saw Fnatic win Red Bull Home Ground 2023 shortly after joining.
Related article: Why UK talent is shining in Valorant – Fnatic head coach mini explains
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
