While he had not appeared publicly on the competitive League of Legends scene since 2022, Barney "Alphari" Morris will be making his return to the LEC. The former British toplaner who has played in both the LEC and LCS will become an assistant coach on the Movistar KOI staff next season, sources tell Sheep Esports. However, this will not be his first coaching experience.

He will join the staff led by Tomás "Melzhet" Campelos. After a respectable but incomplete run at Worlds this year, Movistar KOI is strengthening by adding the expertise of a former player to its coaching staff.

Back after a long break

Movistar KOI won't be Alphari's first experience at coaching in the LEC. Last year, he worked with G2 Esports as a positional coach and helped Broken Blade step up in his laning phase.

During his career as a player, Alphari spent many years in the EU LCS with Misfits Gaming and in the LEC with Origen. He also experienced the LCS with Team Liquid, where he won the 2021 Lock-In. He would return to Europe for one last year for a failed project with Team Vitality. After a three-year break from the competitive scene, he returns to assist Movistar KOI as he begins his career in coaching.

Many options

While the Movistar KOI team will remain the same for the year 2026, changes are expected in the coaching staff. As Quentin "Zeph" Viguié's contract expires, a new member was expected to work alongside Melzhet. The Spanish team considered several profiles before selecting Alphari.

Among these options, there are notably names like Pablo "Gaax" Pérez, who has held the same role at Fnatic for two years. Eric "Independent" Ruiz and Víctor "Machuki" Segura were also considered, as well as Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu, former toplaner and Alphari's opponent in the LEC, who held the position of assistant coach at Los Ratones this year.

It is therefore Alphari who will finally take on this role and gain his first experience within the organization that won the spring split LEC 2025. A few other changes are expected on KOI's side during this offseason. The team wants to trust its players for the future and has even indicated that it has started discussions to extend the contracts of some players.