Coaching Search: 5 Names Iowa Softball Should Consider for Head Coach Opening

The Women's College World Series starts Thursday in Oklahoma City but there are several program searching for their next head coach.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are one of those programs, and since their season ended, things have been relatively quiet in Iowa City.

Players and their families have stated their case for Karl Gollan to be elevated to head coach after finishing the year with him as the interim, but the Big Ten is known for hiring females. Will Iowa break the cycle and hire its first male head coach of the softball program?

Iowa players and parents are backing Karl Gollan to be the next head coach – and they're making noise. 🥎🔥

The admin says he can apply… but will they listen?

Read the full story ⬇️https://t.co/1BIYPGgEKh
— Maren Angus-Coombs (@Maren_Angus) May 7, 2025

Here are five names for Iowa to consider:

Karl Gollan, Iowa

Gollan was hired as an assistant coach in August 2024 and inherited a chaotic season full of change. Despite all that, the Hawkeyes finished 35-18, 15-7 in Big Ten play and just missed out on an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Iowa captured its best record, by winning percentage, since 2009 and have Gollan to thank for a lot of it.

Krista Wood, Creighton

Krista Wood just wrapped her third season as the head coach of the Creighton Bluejays. She has gone 88-78 in Omaha and led the Bluejays to the runner-up finish at the Big East Tournament in consecutive seasons.

Before Creighton, Wood was the head coach at South Dakota State for eight seasons. She led the Jackrabbits to a 238-164 record during her time there and earned Summit League Coach of the Year accolades in 2018, 2021 and 2022. SDSU also appeared in the NCAA Tournament twice under Wood.

Michelle Gascionge, Northwestern

Michelle Gasciogne won a 2013 national championship with the Oklahoma Sooners and joined Northwestern as the pitching coach in 2015.

Gasciogne was part of the 2019 regional coaching staff of the year at Northwestern and help lead the Wildcats to their first Women's College World Series appearance since 2007.

Jen Sewell, SIU

Jen Sewell just completed her 18th season at Southern Illinois and led the Salukis to the NCAA Tournament five times. Last season, the Salukis earned the program’s fifth appearance in the NCAA Regionals in seven seasons and SIU's first-ever NCAA Regional finals appearance.

Sewell took over as head coach during the 2022 season.

Stacy May-Johnson, Fresno State

Stacy May-Johnson graduated from Iowa in 2007 and just finished her fourth season as the head coach at Fresno State.

The Bulldogs finished the 2025 season 37–20 and fell to the San Diego State Aztecs in the conference championship. The runner-up finish marked the program's best finish in the postseason tournament.