BROOKVILLE, N.Y. - The LIU esports program has exciting changes in the works, as announced by head coach John McDermott this week. McDermott has been promoted to Director and Head Coach of the esports program, which has been expanded to the Brooklyn campus. Matthew Taylor has joined the program as Associate Head Coach, leading the Brooklyn operations. In addition, LIU has built a new esports venue on the Brooklyn campus that will have its grand opening in the spring semester.
 
McDermott has been with the program since its inception in 2019, as the inaugural head coach. McDermott will now serve as both Director and Head Coach of the esports program for the Sharks. McDermott was the founding member of the Saint John's University Esports program in 2018. Throughout his career, McDermott has also worked as a head producer and caster for Duo Esports and also was a manager for Eunited League of Legends in 2015.


Taylor comes to the Sharks after serving as head coach of Maryville University of St. Louis' Overwatch team. Taylor will serve as LIU's Associate Head Coach, with a focus on FPS games, specifically Overwatch. During his time with Maryville, Taylor was the analyst for Maryville's League of Leagues team, and as head coach, guided his teams to wins at the Harrisburg University Esports Festival, the Midwest Campus Clash, and North Conference Finals. 

 
The grand opening for the new Brooklyn venue, located in Conolly Hall, will showcase 50 custom-built Alienware Tower computers, 32 television screens that are all capable of streaming and other smart features, and six console stations that will be outfitted with PlayStations, Xboxes, and Switches. The custom-built computers will have 1660 SUPA GPUs, 32 GB of RAM, and 2 TB of space on each of the hard drives.

The esports team will be taking advantage of this brand new venue to hosting future events and grow the program.