Head Coach Renee Gillispie

Head coach Renee Gillispie returned home in 2018 after 18 years at UCF. Gillispie started UCF’s Division I program in 2002, and averaged more than 36 wins per season. She has coached 77 all-conference honorees, 36 all-tournament selections, and 27 NFCA all-region selections. More than eighty players have earned academic all-conference honors.

Gillispie assembled an accomplish staff around her and got to work to rejuvenate the Iowa softball program. The Hawkeyes won the 2023 NISC Championship in Fort Collins, Co.

Gillispie is a native of Danville, Iowa, and played collegiately at Kirkwood and West Texas A&M University.

Assistant Coach Brian Levin

Brian Levin was named an assistant coach on July 20, 2022.

Levin brings 12 years of head coaching experience and a 405-215 career record to Iowa City. He joined the Hawkeyes after head coaching stints at Southern Mississippi, Belmont, University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Levin also spent three seasons as field manager of the Akron Racers of the NPF, where he coached nine All-NPF selections and he was part of the 2014 NPF Coaching Staff of the Year.

Levin is a Granite City, Illinois native and spent 20 years in the military. He played collegiate football and baseball at Peru State College where he was a two-time all-conference player. Levin earned All-America placekicker honors in college.

Assistant Coach Karl Gollan

Karl Gollan was named assistant coach on August 23, 2024.

Gollan joined the Hawkeyes after stints as an assistant coach at Ole Miss and a head coach at Augustana.

Gollan has over 25 years of international playing experience. A former member of New Zealand’s national team from 2004-2017, he helped his country remain at the top spot in the WBSC/ISF and ISC rankings. He is a four-time world champion and 10-time national champion.

Gollan also opened the K2 School of Fastpitch in 2006. Prior to opening his own business, Gollan worked as the co-lead pitching and lead hitting instructor with DG Softball Academy from 2003-05. One of only two training facilities approved for the USA National and Olympic teams at the time, he designed and implemented hitting and pitching programs for all students. Gollan also helped lead camps and coaching seminars.

Director of Operations, Miranda Miller

Miranda Miller joined the Hawkeyes in August of 2023 at the director of operations.

Miller previously served as the women’s soccer director of operations at the University of Oklahoma. Prior to OU she served as the Director of Operations & Administration Men’s & Women’s Soccer, Softball, and Women’s Lacrosse for the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

Miller received her bachelor’s degree in sports management and coaching, with an emphasis in anatomy and biomechanics from the University of Nebraska-Kearney in 2019 before earning a master’s in sports and recreation management with an emphasis in NCAA compliance from Iowa in 2021.