The University of South Carolina unveiled their new head softball coach last week. Ashley Chastain was announced as the next coach, replacing long-time head coach Beverly Smith, who was the 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 only being an alum of the softball program that Coach Compton built, but you know, just holistically as being an alum from the entire department I think it’s just really special.”

Chastain almost did not get the chance to coach the Gamecocks. In fact, it was never her plan to coach at all. Chastain originally planned to be a high school history teacher, which she credits to a high school history teacher.

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

Once she got into coaching, Chastain made many stops in between her time as a Gamecock player and the head coach.

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

Chastain led the 49ers to an NCAA regional appearance last season, but she chose to return to South Carolina due to 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 season that the SEC welcomes softball powerhouses Oklahoma and Texas into its ranks. The Sooners have won the last four Women’s College World Series, and Texas finished runner-up in two of those years.

Despite one of the toughest softball conferences getting tougher, Chastain said that she is excited for the challenge.

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

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

“We’ve got to get the right players. I mean, that’s what it really boils down to,” Chastain said. “We’ve got to recruit really well, and that’s not just on-field talent, but it’s the right people off the field too.”

Chastain is experienced in recruiting players out of both high school and the transfer portal.

“We need to bring both [recruiting avenues] and make that cohesive and marry those things together to have the best team that we can have here,” Chastain said.

One of the most important parts of Chastain’s recruiting plan is to “put 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.

However, just getting the best players, while important, is not the only thing that goes into coaching. Chastain said that she has to “create an environment that the best players want to be a part of.”

“We’ve got to create a winning culture, winning tradition, winning championships,” Chastain said. “I’m really competitive so we’re going to work really hard at competing [against] Clemson at any recruit we go up 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’s head women’s basketball coach, Dawn Staley, is a known fan of the softball program, often attending games with her dog Champ. Chastain said that getting to know the other head coaches excites her since there are a lot of new coaches who weren’t here when she left.

“[I am] really excited to get to know the whole coaching body here,” Chastain said. “Creating those relationships internally is only going to create more passion and better opportunities for our program.”