Team Falcons Lost Their Identity. Can Duckey Help Them Find It Again?

When Team Falcons PH finished their campaign in MPL Philippines Season 16 in fifth place, it felt like a team searching for its center of gravity.

For an organization that once looked poised to become a dominant force in MLBB esports, the season unfolded unevenly. The structure that once held the team together seemed to loosen after the departure of their longtime head coach, Francis Glindro—better known in esports circles as Coach Duckey.

Glindro had moved into a broader role within Team Falcons, serving as international head coach and overseeing teams beyond the Philippines. The promotion was a vote of confidence in his leadership, but back home, the ripple effect was clear: the Philippine squad struggled to rediscover the system that once gave them direction.

Results faltered. Momentum slipped. By the time the season reached its critical stretch, the organization moved quickly, recruiting Moody Samal, aka Coach Moody from Team Liquid PH as an emergency measure. The result was immediate: Team Falcons won their first match after a very long losing streak.

In Season 16, right after Moody transferred to Team Falcons, we asked him about his diagnosis of the team’s poor performance. 

“I just reminded them who they are.”

It was very telling. It suggested that the team had lost its identity. 

Moody’s recruitment brought a late surge. Team Falcons PH began to look steadier, more competitive. But the clock had already run out. The team closed the season in fifth place—improved, but far from the expectations that had been set.

Which is why, when Season 17 approached, the solution was both practical and symbolic: bring Duckey back.

“Your return to Team Falcons PH for Season 17, was that influenced by Falcons’ performance last season?” we asked him.

“Most definitely,” Glindro said when asked if the previous season influenced his return. “Mainly, the reason why I came back is because we were in a very gray spot last season. So it was timely for me to come back and remind the boys why we’re here and push them harder beyond their limits.”

Now, the picture is clearer: Duckey’s return is about restoring a lost culture.

“We’re not yet there,” he admitted. “We’re getting there. And with the new training structure, training regimen, the way we implement it, while it’s still experimental, we’re seeing good results and I hope it continues on.”

For Duckeyyy, rebuilding begins with small steps.

“We’re basically focusing on small incremental changes, basically improvements. That’s what we’re aiming for on a daily basis, you know, short term goals, and setting those up along with long term goals. That’s very important.”

The language is careful and there are no promises.

“Right now, we’re still getting there. We’re getting the hang of it, and hopefully, we get there soon.”

But his return doesn’t mean abandoning his international responsibilities. Duckeyyy still holds a regional role within the Team Falcons system, continuing to oversee coaching operations across Southeast Asia.

“I’ll still be managing the Southeast Asian region as far as coaching is concerned,” he said. “But this time, it’s still the same workload. Still the same. I’ll be living with the boys now, but it will still be the same, I think.”

If anything, the difference is proximity. Being back with the roster—day to day, practice to practice—allows him to shape the team in ways that remote management never quite could.

The decision, he explained, wasn’t entirely his.

“It was the organization’s decision and the team’s decision. They were asking me to come back, ‘kailangan na namin yung lakas mo.’ Honestly, they were asking me to come back, but partly, it was also the management’s decision to have me come back.”

He paused, then added the hope that hangs quietly over every new season.

“And hopefully it brings ripe and good fruits.”

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