Coaching changes often create roster ripple effects. The Iowa Softball team currently is experiencing the upheaval that can come with them.

It started with two-time first-team All-Big Ten infielder Jena Young and second-team pitcher Talia Tretton entering the transfer portal on June 2. All-Big Ten pitcher Jalen Adams followed them into the portal the next day and has since committed to Arizona.

Then we learned Monday that other team members will be joining that trio in exiting Iowa City. Starters Desiree Rivera and Soo-Jin Berry said they are entering the transfer portal, too. They expected more teammates to follow.

Rivera and Berry indicated that the moves resulted from the university not elevating Karl Gollan from interim head coach to the permanent position. Under his leadership for most of 2025, the Hawkeyes won 35 games, tied for the most in a season (’23) since racking up 42 victories in ’09.

Iowa announced on May 28 that it was hiring program alumnus Stacy May-Johnson as the new head coach. That day, Gollan thanked the student-athletes for their support.

“Everyone’s decision to leave was different but had nothing to do with the (other) girls,” said Rivera, a catcher who started 52 games this season. “At the end of the day, we all had to make an extremely hard decision that could have maybe been avoided with different action taken from the athletic department.”

Said Berry: “It was an extremely difficult decision to make because of the bonds we made over this past year.”

To be sure, it was an eventful year that strengthened those bonds.

Iowa Softball student-athletes found out in December that their head coach, Renee Gillespie, would miss the upcoming campaign for personal reasons. Assistant Brian Levin, who joined the staff before the ’23 season, was named the interim head coach.

His tenure was short-lived, however. He was relieved of his duties following a dispute with players who were kneeling during the national anthem.

In stepped Gollan, the pitching coach hired before the season. Despite him being relatively new to the student-athletes, they credited him with providing a path forward following the uncomfortable controversy with Levin and the lingering void left by the head coach that recruited them being away from them.

“I think our team is more hurt by our administration not listening to our concerns rather than individuals leaving (the program),” said Berry, a sophomore whose .335 batting average in ’25 was the second-best mark on the squad.

“We clearly stated to them that there was a chance that a lot of people would leave if Karl wasn’t the coach, and it seemed like they didn’t care at all. I think everyone is just hurt and frustrated by losing a coach who brought out the best in us and kind of tore apart something so rare. We did go through everything and still managed to succeed and be a family rather than just teammates.”

Not much was expected from the Hawkeyes after their 18 wins in ’24, losing their head coach right before practice started and Levin questioning their culture before he left. Instead of it tearing them apart, they were galvanized by the adversity. The Hawkeyes finished sixth in the 18-team Big Ten.

Adams, Rivera and Berry expressed strong support for Gollan being the permanent Hawkeye head coach. He wanted the same. The administration went with May-Johnson, who was Fresno State’s head coach for the last four seasons.

May-Johnson’s Bulldog teams were under .500 during her first two seasons but won a combined 70 contests the last two years. She was the Utah Valley head coach for two seasons before taking over at Fresno and was an assistant coach at various programs for 12 years before that.

Gollan was an assistant coach at Ole Miss for one season prior to joining the Iowa staff. The New Zealander’s long international coaching and playing career stretches back more than two decades.