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 Mandy Gardner

Mandy Gardner was named an assistant coach on September 6, 2022.

Gardner joined the Hawkeyes after stints as an assistant coach at UC San Diego and Grand Canyon University.

Gardner’s playing career included a two-year stay at Michigan, where she was a two-time Big Ten Champion, and three years at Maryland in the ACC/Big Ten. She was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and a volunteer for the Special Olympics while pursuing her undergraduate degree.

Gardner earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Maryland in 2015 and she received her master’s in special education from Grand Canyon in 2018.

Assistant Coach Erin Doud-Johnson

Erin Doud-Johnson was elevated to assistant coach for the 2023-24 season. Doud-Johnson had served as the volunteer assistant coach since 2019.

Prior to coming to Iowa, Doud-Johnson was the head coach at Cedar Rapids Prairie from 2017-19, compiling a 57-25 record, including the school’s most successful season in its history with a record of 29-12 in 2019.

The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native helped Iowa win 185 games in her career from 1998-2001. Doud-Johnson was a part of the 2000 Big Ten regular season and tournament championship team as well as the 2001 tournament championship team. She participated in the NCAA tournament in three out of four seasons and was a member of the 2001 Women’s College World Series team.

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.