Tikatee: How the Dallas Fuel and Overwatch World Cup changed my Coaching Philosophy

These are my thoughts on recent events based on my time with the Dallas Fuel as an Assistant Coach. I wasn’t personally involved with the recent decisions and didn’t participate in the meetings with upper management that led to the release of Decay and Aero. With that said, here is my perspective on where we went wrong this year.

Dallas Fuel 2020

There were a lot of contributing factors behind the philosophical differences between Decay and the team which eventually lead to his requested release. Every player has different backgrounds, expectations, values, goals, and needs, and it’s the staff’s job to satisfy those needs by providing a clear vision that players can buy-in to. At the beginning of the year, there was a conscious effort made to outline our team’s values and our “Pyramid of Success” (https://i.imgur.com/aFqtEK3.png), but it’s clear to me now that many only had a basic understanding of those values, and few truly took them to heart.

It’s easy to present a list of ideals, but much more difficult to foster the environment that upholds them. In failing to uphold our desired culture we allowed players to retreat back to their individual mindsets and lost the feeling of being a part of a team. Being forced into isolation due to COVID definitely made this situation worse, but it is no excuse, and it is very hard to correct a culture once it has been corrupted — we needed to start with a stronger structure and vision, and maintain that vision with consistent effort through the year.

We noticed signs of these issues early on in the season but struggled without intervention from management, and when they did finally step in it felt like their focus was on the scoreline and not what we truly needed. The issues of mismanaged expectations and a weak team culture were not addressed and we were instead directed to heavily focus on short term goals. Our coaching structure was changed haphazardly in an attempt to spark change and turn things around, but our biggest issue was left ignored: we had no identity. Combining a disregarded culture, overemphasis on the bottom line, and the isolation we faced due to COVID, and it’s easy to understand our players’ frustrations.

Looking back to Decay specifically, his issues stemmed from his vision for the team not being realized, and the fact that we tried to keep things running as per normal for far too long. We attempted to mitigate his stress while focussing on other issues within the team — in a sense trying to tame Decay’s attitude while keeping our attention elsewhere. This only furthered his disconnect from the team as he felt his vision was being neglected. It is not Decay’s fault that his expectations weren’t met. It’s understandable he became disappointed with the direction of the team. When building our team, we should have been able to create an environment that aligned with our players’ needs and a vision that they could truly buy-in to and be a part of.

Team culture is a difficult thing to get right. Forcing values on players without fully understanding their needs and expectations will inevitably lead to frustration and disappointment. On the other hand, undervaluing the importance of team culture and depending on the talent and individuality of players can be equally detrimental, and that is the biggest mistake I made with Team Canada last year.

Team Canada 2019

Going into the 2019 OWWC with an abundance of talent at my disposal should have been my golden ticket, but leading up to the event I left too much open to player freedoms. Most of the OWL players understandably wanted time off during the offseason, which was a request I granted, but as a result, we started practicing together later than many other teams. Other freedoms, such as a more relaxed practice schedule, and of course allowing xQc to pursue his opportunity to participate in the OW2 content, resulted in my failure to set the players up with the right resources to perform in our matches. The structure I created was not strong enough to enable the players that I was lucky enough to work with. I regret the way I handled Team Canada last year, but it has helped me learn a critical lesson when it comes to building a team environment. Team structure and culture are just as, if not more, important when working with an abundance of talent to ensure they reach their potential.

Moving Forward

I’ve seen my share of challenges as a professional Overwatch coach, and I have learned a great deal from all of them. I will be looking at my current situation as an opportunity to grow and be better equipped for the future. With Dallas Fuel, I saw the effects of trying to force unity in a team without putting in the work to foster it. With Team Canada, I saw the effects of expecting the culture and structure of the team to develop naturally, even when working with veterans and superstars. A good balance of control and compromise is necessary for a strong team environment.

I put a lot of value on transparency and open communication between staff and players to ensure everyone is working towards the same goals, but this doesn’t mean individual voices should overpower the identity of the team. From day one, the team and its players need to have a strong understanding of what they can expect from each other, and it’s important to manage these expectations effectively to enable growth. In the future, I want to help build a team with a strong identity that talented players can be proud to call home, with a strong vision and respect for player perspectives.

TL;DR

• On Fuel, we tried to force Decay to fit into a team he didn’t share a vision with. This led to his understandable frustrations as we struggled to meet his expectations.
• On Team Canada, I relied too much on player individuality and experience and didn’t provide enough structure to them as their coach, which contributed to our poor showing.
• Teams need a strong sense of identity from day one. This identity needs to be accepted by the players and be strictly maintained to build a healthy environment. Such an environment is built through open communication and compromise between staff and players and must be respected or else it will fall to pieces when core issues go ignored.

Thank you for reading! Although I’m currently busy preparing to return to Canada, my DMs and email are open. If you have any questions about my experience, coaching philosophy, or would like to see a formal resume then please feel free to contact me.