From M80 to M8, there is only one 0 and one step that Adam "
kaplan" Kaplan should take, according to sources close to
Sheep Esports, with the American Head Coach having verbally agreed to join Gentle Mates in
VCT EMEA for 2027. First reported by Lenkee11 on X. Having notably spent several years with Sentinels in VCT Americas, he is set to discover a new region, while the French organization secures an experienced coach ahead of Riot Games' announcement of the partner clubs for the next two seasons.
As a reminder,
Gentle Mates are still not guaranteed to be part of the next wave of partnership, having been members in 2026 following KOI's surprise withdrawal after the 2025 season.
A setback to bounce back stronger
Having joined
VALORANT when the game was released, kaplan quickly made his way into the professional scene, first with SpaceStation Gaming and then Ghost, before joining Sentinels, a North American powerhouse, in late 2022 ahead of the launch of the
VALORANT Champions Tour. With SEN, the American coach notably won a title at Masters Madrid 2024 before being removed from the team in early 2026, following a Kickoff that was likely below the organization's expectations. He would quickly find another project, but in Challengers NA,
VALORANT esports' tier 2, with M80.
Over the course of this year, after finishing 9th-10th at Kickoff, kaplan will join a well-oiled machine already accustomed to competing at the top of VCL North America, which will continue in the same direction under his leadership. After a first split in which M80 finished Top 5-6, the organization went on to win the next two titles in Stage 2 and Stage 3, beating Shopify Rebellion Black in the final on both occasions. Qualifying for the VCT Americas Play-In, kaplan will therefore celebrate his return to Tier 1 through the front door, earning his spot through results. However, the tier difference would prove evident for M80, who were eliminated after two losses, first sent to the lower bracket by ENVY in a 2-0 defeat, before G2 Esports eliminated them by the same score in an elimination series.
A new head coach for Gentle Mates in 2027
For Gentle Mates, the year, although launched in a hurry with a complicated and delayed offseason following a last-minute arrival after Riot Games decided to part ways with KOI, got off to a strong start in 2026. At Kickoff, M8 secured the second European seed and qualified for Masters Santiago, the first international LAN in its VALORANT history. In Chile, the French organization managed to make it out of the group stage, but failed to carry that form into the playoffs, losing back-to-back series to Nongshim RedForce in the upper bracket and then All Gamers in the lower bracket.
Back in Berlin for VCT EMEA, M8 failed to replicate this success, finishing 5th-6th while also making a coaching staff change during the stage, which did little to ensure stability for the project. Despite this, M8 managed to qualify for the Esports World Cup, make it out of the group stage and finish 5th-6th in Paris, despite a player change beforehand. In VCT EMEA Stage 2, M8 completely missed the mark, finishing 13th-16th. Notably, aside from their Controller Yusuf Emre "Proxh" Tunc, the organization has no player under contract for 2027, with some already having declared themselves open to other projects, including their In-game Leader this season, Patryk "starxo" Kopczyński.
