Harsha “Harsha” Bandi has been named head coach of the Houston Outlaws ahead of the 2020 Overwatch League season.
The former Vancouver Titans coach is heading to the Outlaws, an organization that’s been the topic of some conversation recently after a report from The Esports Observer noted a stall in the Overwatch franchise’s sale, which was supposed to have been finalized in late August. There has been no official announcement as to whether the team will still be bought by real estate investor Lee Zeiben, as had been previously reported.
In Harsha’s run with the Titans, he helped the team into the runner-up spot in the OWL Grand Finals of Season 2 after guiding the squad to a spectacular regular season season, dominating the league standings throughout the entirety of the Season 2 and into the playoffs.
Before beginning his tenure with the Titans, Harsha was an analyst for the San Francisco Shock during the league’s inaugural season.
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For Outlaws fans, a head coach with experience with such winning teams is great news. While the Outlaws didn’t have a terrible season, they ended up in the middle of the pack, landing them in 12 place overall place and firmly on the outside of the playoff picture.
Harsha spoke positively to his time with Vancouver in spite of the finals loss to the San Francisco Shock, and expressed optimism regarding his future with the Houston Outlaws.
“I will do my best to achieve strong results this season, and am happy to have such a talented team alongside me,” Harsha said on Twitter. “This season with Titans feels like it passed by so quickly. While we didn’t manage to achieve our ultimate goal of winning Grand Finals, I am really happy that I was able to spend a year working with one of the most storied teams in Overwatch.”
With all of the uncertainty surrounding the ownership of the organization that will eventually take control of the Outlaws, this piece of news offers a reprieve for fans that might be worried about the future of the team. While fans await official news on who will actually buy the Outlaws, the addition of Harsha is a much needed step in the right direction and should allow fans to have hope for a better outcome in the 2020 season.
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