The 2019 Regular Season of the Overwatch League began on February 14 and ends on August 25. With just two weeks left in Stage 4, Overwatch League franchise Toronto Defiant has announced a change of coaching staff. The esports organization owned by OverActive Media and operated by Splyce revealed that it would release previous head coach Lee “Bishop” Beomjun from the team.
Our coaches Matthew “Optidox” Sims, Sungbo “Mobydik” Shim, and Dennis “Barroi” Matz will take over coaching responsibilities for the remainder of the season. Head Coach Beoumjun "Bishop" Lee has been relieved of duties, effective immediately. We thank him for his contributions.
— Toronto Defiant 🖤 #RiseTogether (@TorontoDefiant) August 8, 2019
Toronto Defiant coaching change
Bishop joined the Toronto Defiant organization as a coach in September of 2018. Before joining, he held roles on the coaching staff at both London Spitfire and Cloud9 KongDoo. He also previously played competitively for Team Kongdoo Panthera.
The Toronto Defiant ended Stage 1 tied for 3rd place with Philadelphia Fusion. However, it achieved much worse results in later stages. It took 15th during Stage 2, 19th along with being tied for last in Stage 3, and are not much better in the 4th stage. Overall, the organization has 8 wins and 17 losses. The Defiant sit at the very bottom of the League Standings.
It is likely the firing of Bishop comes after the organization’s disappointing results. It may also be due to the organization being deprived of the possibility to contest in playoffs after losing to the Philadelphia Fusion on August 4.
Bishop’s response
https://twitter.com/BishopOW/status/1159309183176663040
“It pains me to say that I will be parting ways with the Toronto Defiant – an amazing team that has been my home and family for a year,” wrote Bishop. “I thank the team for giving me the opportunity to coach again, especially after being out of the pro scene due to family reasons.”
Weirdly enough, the date Toronto Defiant let go of Bishop was also his 30th birthday. The coach mentioned in his statement that he will take a pause from coaching, for the moment. In his absence, assistant coach Optidox, Mobydik, and analyst Barroi will substitute for the position.
How do you think the Toronto Defiant will do in the remaining two weeks? The organization’s results are vastly different than the current standings in the LEC of parent organization Splyce. What do you think they need to do to improve? Let us know in the comments, and keep up with all of the latest Overwatch news and content here at Daily Esports.
