For its first three seasons, Keene State Esports was coached by Head Coach Noah Drouin, who recently departed the program in the Spring.
At the helm, Drouin led the program to two PlayVS College national championships and personally led the Overwatch team. With his departure, Keene State College has begun the search for a new head coach for the program.
On July 13, 2026, Keene State College posted a job offer for an Esports head coach according to the website HigherEdJobs, detailing the duties and responsibilities of the role.
According to Athletic Director Marty Testo, Keene State learned about Drouin’s departure at the end of the spring semester, and the athletics department began looking for a new coach. Testo detailed the process required for hiring a new head coach, but said that it is not necessarily different for Esports compared to other sports.
“It can be a lengthy process,” Testo said. “It’s taken some time to get the job posted, have it approved, and find candidates that are interested in it. […] We don’t have a lot of experience in recruiting [Esports coaches]. I think the process of getting a job approved, getting the job posted, takes more time than people think.”
Senior Valorant player Thomas Czwakiel said that he has felt supported through the transition.
“[Assistant Athletic Director] Abe Osheyack has been helpful on the administrative side of things, so that’s been good. We have a lot of paperwork that we have to fill out, and Abe has been helpful with that,” said Czwakiel
Another current Esports player was contacted, but declined to comment.
Testo said the team has chosen not to nominate an interim coach through the transition. “We don’t have an interim coach. We went through this with Noah [Drouin],” Testo said. “Noah has helped us out drastically [after leaving the program]. We’ve appointed another head coach on campus as a supervisor for the team, who was very involved with the beginning of Esports at this college.” Testo declined to identify the current team supervisor.
Testo said that the timeline for hiring a new coach is uncertain, but proceeding smoothly. “The goal is to hire the right person, and sometimes that takes some time. Obviously, the goal was to have a head coach in place before the school year started, and that didn’t happen. It’s not the fault of the Athletic Department,” Testo said. “We’ve been in contact with some of the assistant coaches and many of the players throughout the process to keep them informed on what’s going on. We take this search as seriously as we take any other search.”
Testo believes that the Esports season will proceed uninterrupted. “We’ve done everything up to this point to make sure that their season does start on time. There’s been practice schedules built, they’ve been registered and we’re waiting on their schedule,” Testo said. “As of this point right now, [their season] won’t be impacted.”
Frank LeBlanc can be contacted at
fleblanc@kscequinox.com
