Utah Softball Shakes Up Coaching Staff Midseason
The Utah softball program is shaking up its coaching staff midseason.
Pitching coach Karl Gollan, who was in his first season with the program, resigned on Thursday, per a report from Justin McLeod of D1 Softball.
Utah Softball has added Matt Lisle to the coaching staff, according to the team's website.
— Maren Angus-Coombs (@Maren_Angus) April 16, 2026
This comes after pitching coach Karl Gollan resigned, per @justfactsmaam.
Replacing Gollan is Matt Lisle, who was added to the roster hours after Gollan was taken off. Lisle confirmed his hiring with Softball On SI via text Thursday evening.
However, Lisle is not a pitching coach.
Utah's record is 29-15-1 (5-9-1 Big 12). The Utes have a team batting average of .306, which is good for eighth in the league, and an ERA of 2.76, which is third.
Utah has three pitchers in the top 10 for the Big 12.
Shelbee Jones leads the Utah pitching staff and is third in the Big 12 with an ERA of 2.21. Hailey Maestretti isn't far behind in sixth with a 2.31 ERA.
Maestretti is coming off a brilliant performance against No. 4 Texas Tech. She shut out the Red Raiders for the first time this season in a 4-0 victory.
Raci Miranda has the league's 10th-best ERA at 3.24.
Gollan spent the 2025 season at Iowa, where he served as the acting head coach for the season's final 34 games. He was initially hired to be the team's pitching coach.
While in Iowa City, current Arizona senior Jalen Adams rose to dominance in the Big Ten. As a junior, Adams received all-conference and all-region honors after piling up 25 victories, tied for eighth in the nation, to go with a 2.18 ERA, fourth-best in the Big Ten.
Prior to Iowa, Gollan spent a season at Ole Miss. The Rebels' pitching staff finished with a 2.86 ERA and held hitters to a .249 batting average against.
Gollan also served as the head coach at Division II Augustana.
Gollan's international and pro softball playing career spanned more than 25 years. He was a member of New Zealand's National Team from 2004-17, helping the Black Sox consistently maintain their spot at the top of the WBSC/ISF world rankings.
Lisle joins the Utes after a two-year stint at Oregon State where he worked primarily with hitters and fielders.
Lisle's career spans years in softball and baseball.
Before Oregon State, he was named the the 2023 Bay Valley Conference Coach of the Year for his work with the baseball team at Los Medanos (Calif.). He spent 2022 with the University of San Francisco baseball program.
Lisle first entered the collegiate softball space in 2013 with Oregon as a volunteer assistant and was a part of the 2018 NFCA Southeast Region Coaching Staff of the Year as South Carolina’s hitting coach.
After South Carolina, Lisle headed back to California where he helped Fresno State during the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
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Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. She has been covering college softball since 2016 for various outlets including Softball America, ESPNW and Hurrdat Sports. She is currently the managing editor of Softball On SI and also serves as an analyst for Nebraska softball games on Nebraska Public Media and B1G+.