Interview with DIG Cop on Coaching, Performance and Playoff Preparation

Following the conclusion of the regular split, we've caught up with our League of Legends team coach David "Cop" Roberson! We've had a chance to speak to him about his thoughts on the team's improvements, coaching in NA, preparation for playoffs and more.

Firstly, congratulations on making playoffs. How do you feel about landing fifth place in the regular season?

Cop: It’s not really where we want to be since things were looking so good early on in the split, but it doesn’t matter where we are in the standings as long as we make playoffs. We’ll have to play all these teams no matter where we ended the season, it’s just up to us to play our best against each opponent.

Team Dignitas just came off a 1-1 performance on the weekend, falling short versus CLG but victorious against Team Liquid. What are your thoughts on each series?

Cop: CLG was actually a pretty easy win in hindsight, but I think the drafts were a little too risky. The Nasus was doing well in practice, but on stage it’s harder to execute on these slow-play champions with no escapes. The TL match didn’t matter at all so we didn’t go all out, but we still won with relative ease which made me pretty happy going into playoffs.

Overall, the team has proven a lot stronger this half of the split. In what areas has the team been concentrating their improvement these last few weeks?

Cop: We were having troubles with our teamwork and getting everyone to fill the qualities we were missing in a team. Everyone is working really hard to improve our teamplay and all we needed was to just get everyone in on each play, with no one working by themselves.

You coach alongside Saintvicious, a veteran who you’ve worked with for years. What’s it like coaching alongside him, and how do your coaching styles differ?

Cop: It’s nice to have someone I’ve worked with for a long time on the Team Dignitas’ coaching staff since normally I just work alone. Saint and I have built up a good synergy over time and we know how to work together. Our coaching styles don’t really differ that much, we just divide what we need to do and work hard.

In your experienced opinion, what do you think makes for a truly effective coach, and what are your thoughts on NA’s coaching as a whole?

Cop: I don’t really know anything about any NA coaches since we all keep to ourselves and to our teams. I think what makes a good coach depends on what they’re focusing on, but being able to provide consistent drafts, understanding what the players need and how to improve on those things, and being able to discuss things with your team without creating a bad atmosphere.

As head coach for the team, how often do you find yourself playing League?

Cop: When I first became a coach, I didn’t play any solo queue since I hated playing as a player and I was still used to that, but now I see the value in playing as much as I can. As a coach, I need to try out everything changed by the patch and see what can work and what doesn’t work to back up my opinions when talking to players.

In terms of communication, which players are most vocal? Is there a dedicated team shotcaller, or is it more of a shared thing?

Cop: There’s no dedicated shotcaller, we just try to get everyone communicating and working with each other.
 

On the subject of communication, how has the team faced the challenge of language barriers? How has Ssumday been adapting to English?

Cop: Ssumday and Shrimp have been taking English classes and I always see Shrimp studying his Korean\English book. They’re working really hard to get through the language barrier and they’ve both improved drastically since they first joined the team.

Introducing Altec and Adrian to the roster has resulted in some very clean performances. What is it about them that make such an effective bot-lane?

Cop: They just know how to play through priority and they really punish their opponents in lane and take it to the mid and late game. If you get 1 or 2 kills in lane against any bot lane, it’s really hard for the other team to win the game since Ssumday’s usually going to be out-performing on his picks, even if he gets camped.

How are you handling playoff preparations? Compared to a normal practice day during the season, what's different now that playoffs are ahead?

Cop: We’re doing pretty much all we can do. We’re taking extra blocks for practice, putting a lot of research into C9, and really trying to find out what we need to be doing in order to become good enough to win playoffs.

Are there any teams you’d rather face or not face?

Cop: We’ll eventually have to face everyone, so it doesn’t matter. I just really want to play TSM eventually.

What’re your thoughts on Cloud 9 and how do you think you’ll stack up against them?

Cop: Cloud 9 is good, but nothing we can’t handle. We lost our sets vs them during the regular season and the losses looked pretty one-sided, but we won a game in both sets and showed that we can crush them.

Any shoutouts or closing words?

Cop: Thanks to Team Dignitas, our sponsors and the Philadelphia 76ers for supporting us, but especially thanks to the fans for cheering us on each week. Hopefully we can 3-0 C9 and play at Boston\Worlds for everyone!

We thank Cop for his time. To keep up with him, you can follow him on Twitter and Twitch!