Between 2010 and 2016, 20 players were inducted into the Survivor Hall of Fame. During Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans, three of those inductees will be competing, Cirie Fields, Ozzy Lusth, and Benjamin "Coach" Wade. Given that all three of those players are widely considered to be legends of the show, it was always going to be fascinating to see them all get another chance to win the game.
One of the most underreported aspects of Survivor 50's cast is how the season may be affected by the complicated and potentially difficult history that two of those legends share. Even though many fans seem to have overlooked this fact, Coach and Ozzy played the game together once in the past. Based on the events of that previous season, it is very easy to see how the two men's past interactions have the potential to profoundly affect Survivor 50 .
Coach and Ozzy could cause each other's Survivor 50 downfalls
After the cast for Survivor 50 was announced, a lot of attention was paid to Benjamin "Coach" Wade's unexpected inclusion. Similarly, there have been fans who've noted that it seems like Ozzy Lusth could finally win Survivor during the upcoming landmark season. The thing that has mostly gone undiscussed is that Ozzy and Coach could ruin each other's chances to win the upcoming season.
During the show's 23rd season, Survivor: South Pacific, Ozzy and Coach were added to the cast of otherwise rookie players. While some of their fellow players didn't appreciate the addition of the legends, each of them took on a leadership position in the separate tribes they were a part of. That could have set the two men up as rivals who could have walked away from the game with a simple relationship after having gone head-to-head. However, things didn't turn out that simply.
Once there was a merge, Coach and Ozzy had several memorable conversations. During those discussions, Coach professed a desire to go to the end with Ozzy and battle against the best. Despite those statements, the alliance that Coach led targeted Ozzy and ensured he didn't make it to the end. On top of that, Coach played an integral role in convincing John Cochran to turn on his original tribe, which led to Ozzy's downfall.
To be clear, the things that Coach did to ensure Ozzy's exit fell within the typical realm of Survivor strategy that can be seen during virtually any other season of the show. However, the difference was that Coach did those things while regularly speaking about wanting to play with integrity and battle against the toughest warriors in the end. In short, Coach's rhetoric didn't match his actions.
After that series of events, Coach and Ozzy were both tapped to play during Survivor 50. While Ozzy was classy in defeat following Survivor: South Pacific, he certainly won't have forgotten how Coach torpedoed his game. Simultaneously, Coach could be worried that Ozzy may want revenge or distrust anything he says. For all those reasons, it would make sense if Ozzy, Coach, or both of them targeted each other during Survivor 50. Given that scenario, both men could wind up causing each other's downfalls in the upcoming season.