Max Pietrzak

Title:

Assistant Coach / SSBU Title Coach

Bio

Max Pietrzak joined the MCC Esports coaching staff Fall 2023. Pietrzak serves as the Assistant Esports Coach for MCC, as well as the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate title coach which he’s led to the NJCAAE Division 2 National Championship in Spring 2025. Pietrzak has also coached SSBU and Madden teams to 7 national runners-up titles since 2023.

Before joining Iowa Valley, Pietrzak managed a local business, Game Haven, in Marshalltown where they held one of the biggest SSBU weekly tournaments in the state, X-Roads. Since the closure of Game Haven in late 2024, Pietrzak has transitioned those tournaments to the MCC campus and integrates students from the esports team and esports management programs to help run said events.

Max is also a key part of MCC's community outreach and recruitment initiatives, helping to run community-run tournaments and gaming events and assisting with the Iowa High School Esports Associations' state championship tournaments.

Pietrzak's coaching philosophy emphasizes relationships and comradery as the most important parts of developing student-athletes. He understands that building lasting friendships and leaning on each other are the best ways to improve and retain a player's passion for the game, and this shines through in every aspect of Pietrzak's coaching and leadership.

He is affectionately referred to by his peers to be the "Mugsy Bogues of Esports."