Saintvicious resigns as FlyQuest coach following damaging comments about mental health

Brandon “Saintvicious” DiMarco, former NA LCS jungler and longtime coach, has stepped down from his coaching position with FlyQuest, the team announced on Saturday morning. The resignation comes after DiMarco made several incorrect comments on many medically recognized mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and ADHD, claiming these weren’t real and were simply “a made-up excuse” during a Twitch stream last weekend.

DiMarco explained during his stream that he felt these conditions were simply an issue of mindset and that anyone suffering from them should, “fight their way out of it.” It is important to note that while these may be views that DiMarco holds, they are verifiably false based on modern medicine and psychology and are in-fact very real issues that are particularly prevalent in esports.

DiMarco has offered an apology on Facebook, saying that he was trying to say is that mental health conditions are often exaggerated — though it is notable that this explicitly goes against what he states during the video, where he says, “depression, anxiety, ADHD, all that shit is just made up bullshit,” — and that his comments were made in ignorance and that he looks forward to growing into an “advocate for mental health issues”. However, according to Nick “LS” De Cesare, who worked as a coach with DiMarco during his time as a player for Gravity, these views are not new for DiMarco and are things he has expressed in the past.

DiMarco also derided those who seek help for mental illnesses. When discussing times when he has felt sad in the past, he said “I didn’t look for people to help me or cry about it, I just realized I was being a fucking weak bitch. It’s not an illness.” Many in the League community took issue with this incorrect statement, sharing their own experiences with their mental health and the importance of getting help.

DiMarco has been a part of the LCS for a number of years, first as a player for teams like CLG, Team Curse and Gravity. DiMarco then moved on to coaching for teams like Coast, Apex and a variety of others.

While this incident on-stream happened shortly before his resignation, there’s no mention of the statements in FlyQuest’s post and no mention of resignation in DiMarco’s own apology. FlyQuest’s only official comment on this issue so far comes from their announcement of DiMarco’s departure, where the team compliments him on his hard work and states that, “he will be able to shine in any opportunity he is given.” Because of this it is unclear if the team had any say in DiMarco’s departure of what the organization’s response to his comments is.

FlyQuest will now be coached by Gabriel “Invert” Zoltan-Johan and David “Cop” Roberson.