KOJI Tsuzurabara is already looking for a new home.
The 60-year-old Japanese mentor is set to part ways with defending champion Petro Gazz just three months after leading the team to its first-ever PVL All-Filipino Conference championship.
READ: Coach Koji leaving Petro Gazz just months after winning PVL title
The move was described as a ‘sudden decision to leave’ amid the Angels’ 1-3 start in the 2025 PVL on Tour preseason tournament without their Alas Pilipinas-bound MVPs in Brooke Van Sickle and MJ Phillips.
Moving forward, Tsuzurabara is set to fly back to Japan on Thursday.
"I know you are surprised by my sudden decision to leave the PGA [Petro Gazz Angels]," the former Angels head coach told SPIN.ph, without disclosing the events that led to his shock departure.
He is already expected to miss Petro Gazz’ final pool match against Choco Mucho on July 29 in Candon City, Ilocos Sur.
New team soon for Koji-san
His immediate plan, as per multiple sources, is only to take a quick break and return to the coaching scene as soon as possible.
“[Coach Koji’s] agent is currently looking for a new team,” a source told SPIN.ph.
That new team may either be within the PVL, in the college ranks or even overseas, depending on which offer will work best for Tsuzurabara.
Should his next chapter be away from the PVL, he will go down as the league’s second-ever foreign coach to lead a local team to a PVL title after Thailand’s Tai Bundit won a hat-trick of championships with Creamline between 2018 and 2019.
Tsuzurabara also carries a 70 percent win rate in the PVL since entering the league in January 2024, with 35 victories and 15 defeats to his name.
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