- The Los Angeles Gladiators has made some significant changes to its coaching staff
- Face has risen to the position of a head coach and SMASH and Unter have joined as assistant coaches
- The franchise’s roster has also undergone some significant changes
The Los Angeles Gladiators Overwatch League franchise is undergoing some significant changes before heading to OWL 2022 and Overwatch 2.
Face Becomes the New Head Coach of the LA Gladiators
With the Overwatch League 2021 over, teams are thinking about the future. People are already preparing for 2022 and the changes the release of Overwatch 2 will bring to the competitive environment. The Los Angeles Gladiators have wasted no time making changes to its roster and securing three new coaches.
The OWL franchise recently said its goodbyes with the team’s former coach, David “dpei” Pei . Now, three new people will be joining as the team’s mentors. The first is Sam “face” Merewether who will be rising to the position of head coach.
Dpei was LA Gladiators’ coach almost since the team’s inception. In 2019, he became the general manager and head coach and continued guiding the team. Needless to say, dpei’s history with the franchise is long and the decision to change him surely wasn’t easy. Still, before taking the role of the team’s new head coach, face worked as an assistant coach. He has learned directly from dpei and will continue his legacy.
The Team is Undergoing More Changes
The efforts of face will be supported by the newly-hired assistant coaches Bee-won “SMASH” Cho and Max “Unter” Unterwuracher. Both of them have field experience as coaches that will help the LA Gladiators achieve a top level of play.
Unter, for example, has both played as a Contenders player and has served as a coach in the Los Angeles Valiant and the Atlanta Reign. SMASH is another former player who has later switched to coaching. He has guided several teams across Asia.
Other than the new coaching staff, the Los Angeles Gladiators are also undergoing some important roster changes. The team dismissed its main tank Kim “MuZe” Young-han, its support Grant “moth” Espe and its flex DPS Chris “MirroR” Trinh. Additionally, another DPS, Kim “birdring” Ji-hyeok, left the competitive scene.
Several players joined in to fill in the gaps. Those include DPS Daniel “FunnyAstro” Hathaway, DPS Seonchang “ANS” Lee and tank Corey “Reiner” Scoda.
The team still has a few more roles left to fill in and will likely announce them soon.
