Chae “yoman” Young-moon has announced that he is LFT after spending the past year on Nongshim RedForce’s coaching staff. The move ends a season-long stint that began in January and placed him behind the team’s first international title run, a return to Champions and a playoff finish at Champions Shanghai.
Yoman’s jump into coaching was a change of pace after a 2025 season spent in the VCT. He split that year between Gen.G and Global Esports, then moved to Nongshim at the start of the following year. His arrival also carried a familiar feel: before Nongshim added the former Sin Prisa Gaming core, yoman had already competed for the organization in the season before that roster was acquired.
That background matters because his time at Nongshim was not a short trial or a stopgap. He was there through the team’s best stretch of results, first as the roster opened the year undefeated at Pacific Kickoff, then as it carried that form into Masters Santiago. Nongshim won the event after dropping just one map across four matches, giving the team its first international trophy.
After that early surge, the season did not stay on the same path. Nongshim later missed out on the international stage, then fought its way back by qualifying for its first Champions appearance. The team ended the year with a playoff finish at Champions Shanghai, adding another deep run after the title in Santiago.
Yoman says he gained more than expected from coaching
Yoman, who turned 30 earlier this year, had already said in an interview earlier in 2026 that he was not fully closing the door on a return to playing. His latest update makes that possibility more direct: he is now available and looking for his next opportunity.
“I joined the team to get inspired and grow as a person, but I gained so much more than expected this year,” he said. “My sense of identity grew a bit (blurry), I don’t know what is gonna happen for me but I’m ready to push myself again.”
The quote points to a year that changed his role in the scene rather than ending his involvement in it. Yoman had spent years as a player before stepping into coaching, and his first season on the sideline became a test run for a different part of the job. It also gave him a front-row view of how quickly a team can swing from early dominance to a season that still needed a strong finish to end on a high note.
Before Nongshim, yoman’s playing resume included a run with Rare Atom in 2023, when the team finished second at China Ascension. That was his only season in China, and it came while he played alongside stew, MarT1n and Viva. The year before that, he was with Gwangju Shadow, where he lined up with VCT-level talent stew and UdoTan, as well as Korean Challenger players Banger and Wolverine.
Those stops help explain why Nongshim saw him as more than a stopgap hire. He had recent VCT experience, had already worked with different rosters, and had just come off a year in which he was still competing at the highest level before turning to coaching. By the time he entered Nongshim’s booth, he brought both current match experience and the perspective of someone who had spent the previous season in two different lineups.
Nongshim’s season mixed a fast start with late-year setbacks
The team’s 2026 arc gave yoman plenty to work with. Pacific Kickoff started with an undefeated run, and Masters Santiago followed with a title that came after a four-match event in which Nongshim dropped only one map. For a roster built around WoohyuN, Xross, Rb, Francis, Ivy and SilKanoN, that was the kind of start every team wants, especially with a new coach in place.
But the middle of the year showed the limits of that momentum. Nongshim missed the international stage once after its early success, then recovered enough to qualify for Champions for the first time. Reaching Champions was a step forward on its own, and the team added another strong result by making the playoffs at Champions Shanghai.
That sequence gave yoman’s first year coaching a clear rhythm: a breakthrough, a dip, a return and then another finish among the top teams. It also meant he leaves after a season that included both the high point of a Masters title and the pressure of keeping the team relevant through the rest of the year.
For Nongshim, the offseason has already brought changes. The organization was not announced as a partnered org for next year, but said it would remain committed to Valorant. Since the end of Champions, it has also parted ways with Sungmin and allowed Masters Santiago MVP Dambi to explore his options.
Yoman’s exit adds another opening to a roster and staff group that is still shifting after a season full of results. The team has not stopped moving since the year ended, and his availability now gives other organizations a chance to weigh whether his experience as both a recent VCT player and a first-year coach fits what they need next.
His departure also closes a specific chapter for Nongshim. The team’s year began with an undefeated kickoff run, turned into an international title, then ended with a Champions playoff appearance. Yoman was part of every step of that stretch, first as a new coach and now as a free agent again.
Earlier this year, he said he was not closing the door on a return to playing. With his LFT announcement, that possibility is still open, and his first season on the coaching side has ended with him back on the market after a year that included some of the strongest results of Nongshim’s run.
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