Converge continues to go under some retooling after falling short of the franchise’s first semifinal appearance, this time hiring Chico Manabat to add to the coaching crew following the departure of Charles Tiu.

Tiu stepped down as a deputy for the FiberXers, citing intention to focus on his family business as the reason. It created a room for Manabat, the concurrent Arellano Chiefs head coach, in the coaching staff that also has Willie Miller, Danny Ildefonso and headed by interim coach Franco Atienza.

Coming in with Manabat is Manny Dandan, who is also the defensive coach of the Chiefs, while also gone aside from Tiu, were strength and conditioning coaches Gelo Vito and Nico Francisco and head of analytics Paulo Maligalig.

The recent coaching shakeup came amidst the rumors of a possible takeover by current team manager Dennis ‘Delta’ Pineda to the head coaching job.

Manabat, like Tiu, is bringing in youth and new ideas to the FiberXers coaching staff after steering Centro Escolar University to a UCBL title in 2023 before moving on to Arellano last year.

Aside from the coaching changes, Converge has also loaded up its backcourt rotation after adding Rey Suerte through a trade with Blackwater. 

His addition alleviates the impact of the departure of Alex Cabagnot who is retiring from the PBA to take an assistant coaching job with the University of the East in the UAAP, under new head coach Chris Gavina.