Spencer Claypool begins his first year as head coach in Esports at Cumberland and will participate in his inaugural season in the fall of 2021.

Claypool will have the opportunity to start the program from the ground up. Cumberland will compete in a wide number of different game titles. The following represents some of the most popular game titles played at NACE institutions: League of Legends, Overwatch, Smite, Paladins, Hearthstone, Rocket League, Super Smash Bros, FIFA, NBA2k, and Madden. CU will choose exactly which games the Phoenix will participate in at a later date.

Cumberland plans to pave a path for the Middle Tennessee area in the Esports community. There are currently only four other universities that offer Esports, but none in the Middle Tennessee region: East Tennessee State University, King University, Bethel University, and Milligan University.

Claypool spent four years at Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Ky. where he held several positions around campus. He spent time as a Resident Assistant, Student Ambassador, Student Admissions Counselor, a member of the Football team, and an Athletic Trainer.

During his time at Cumberland as a Graduate assistant in the sports information office, Claypool handled the responsibilities of the day-to-day reporting on athletics teams including game notes and stories, game and season stats, and postgame information. He assisted in handling all of the department’s weekly and gameday social media graphics as well as managing social media accounts. Claypool also created web and advertising graphics for GoCumberlandAthletics.com and created gameday programs for several sports.

He earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Biology degree from Kentucky Wesleyan College in April of 2019 and graduated from the master’s program for Exercise and Sports Science at Cumberland in 2021.