Gamecocks hire former pitcher Ashley Chastain as their next softball coach

The University of South Carolina unveiled their new head softball coach last week. Ashley Chastain was announced as the next coach, replacing longtime head coach Beverly Smith, who was head softball coach for 14 years.

Chastain is a South Carolina alum and was a pitcher for the softball team from 2009-2011. She is the second alumnus to return to South Carolina as a head coach in any sport, joining recently retired equestrian coach Boo Major.

“It just means a lot to me,” Chastain said. “Not just because I’m an alum of the softball program that Coach Compton built, but you know, just holistically as an alum of the entire department, I just think it’s really special.”

Chastain almost didn’t get the chance to coach the Gamecocks. In fact, it was never her plan to start coaching at all. Chastain originally planned to become a high school history teacher, which she attributes to being a high school history teacher.

“I came here and got a bachelor’s degree in history and then stayed to get a secondary education degree in social studies,” Chastain said. “Then the game never left me, and so I started thinking about coaching and how that, I think, was really my path, and here we are many years later.”

Once she started coaching, Chastain made many stops between her time as a Gamecock player and head coach.

Immediately following her playing career, she was a graduate assistant at South Carolina. She then served as pitching coach at the College of Charleston, Michigan State and Ole Miss before becoming head coach of the Charlotte 49ers in 2020.

Chastain led the 49ers to an NCAA regional appearance last season, but she chose to return to South Carolina because of her love for the program.

“This program means the world to me,” Chastain said.

Chastain’s first season in charge will also be the first in which the SEC welcomes softball powerhouses Oklahoma and Texas to its ranks. The Sooners have won the last four Women’s College World Series and Texas finished second in two of those years.

Despite one of softball’s toughest conferences becoming increasingly difficult, Chastain said she is excited about the challenge.

“My staff and I love great competition,” Chastain said. “We will welcome these opportunities to play the best as we become one of the best.”

South Carolina finished 11th in the SEC last season and Chastain said her goal is to get South Carolina to the College World Series. To do that, she needs to “find the right players.”

“We have to have the right players. I mean, that’s really what it comes down to,” Chastain said. “We have to recruit very well, and that means not only talent on the field, but also the right people off the field.”

Chastain has experience recruiting players from both the high school and transfer portal.

“We have to bring both (recruiting capabilities) together and make that cohesive and put those things together to have the best team we can have here,” Chastain said.

One of the most important parts of Chastain’s recruiting plan is “putting up a fence” around the state of South Carolina.

“We want the best players in the region to come to the flagship school and be Gamecocks for life,” Chastain said.

But while recruiting the best players is important, it is not the only thing that comes with coaching. Chastain said she needs to “create an environment that the best players want to be a part of.”

“We have to create a winning culture, a winning tradition, and win championships,” Chastain said. “I’m very competitive, so we’re going to work very hard to compete (against) Clemson with every recruit we go against.”

According to Chastain, a big part of this winning culture will be instilling the belief that her team can compete with the best of the best in college softball.

South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley is a noted fan of the softball program and often attends games with her dog, Champ. Chastain said she is excited to get to know the other head coaches as there are many new coaches who were not there when she left.

“(I’m) very excited to get to know the entire coaching body here,” Chastain said. “Creating these relationships internally will only create more passion and better opportunities for our program.”