When new Hawkeye softball head coach Renee Gillispie walked on to campus in June to take over her duties, there was plenty of work to be done.

The Hawkeyes had not seen a glimmer of a winning softball season since 2013. In that time, under ex-head coach Marla Looper, Iowa had compiled a measly 88-173-1 record.

Still, Gillispie is nothing but confident.

“I really don’t have any fears coming into this,” said Gillispie, a native of Danville, Iowa. “I know what we have to work on to get the team where it needs to be. No. 1 is conditioning. We need to be the most physically fit, the fastest, the strongest team that we can put on the field so we can compete against the top Big Ten teams.”

That confidence is warranted. Gillispie averaged more than 36 wins per season at Central Florida since starting the program in 2002. Prior to that, she built Texas Tech’s program and led the team to two ranked seasons in the first four years.

Work with the Hawkeyes began immediately for Gillispie in June. The coaching staff was completely overhauled with the addition of state-connected coaches, including Iowa High School Hall of Fame softball coach Rick Dillinger and ex-Pleasant Valley High School head coach Lori Duncan.

Gillispie and her staff stressed the importance of keeping the state’s high-school talent in the state for their college careers.

“I’ve been recruiting in Iowa for the last 25 years, and every year, I’m back at the state tournament,” she said. “Having Rick Dillinger and Lori Duncan on board — those two are connected. They know the coaching staffs. They know the players. They have the connections we need.”

It is not a complete uphill battle for Gillispie. She has the support of the coaching staff as well as that from Iowa’s administration.

“We had great interest in the job,” Athletics Director Gary Barta said. “But when it came down to it, we found the right person.”

Last season, Iowa toppled some of the best programs in the league. The Hawkeyes bested the likes of Big Ten’s best with Michigan, then-No. 8 Baylor, and then-No. 13 ranked Arizona State.

But Iowa suffered losses to much lower-tier teams. Gillispie needs to find a way to make those Cinderella wins consistent.

“[The Hawkeyes] have that piece of the puzzle,” she said. “They have the ability to do that. It’s about finding that confidence to be able to do it game in and game out.”

That consistency is no easy task. Gillispie, her staff, and her team will work from the ground up to revamp the program.

“What I can promise you is that we will work our fannies off to get the players we need,” Gillispie said. “To keep the Iowa kids in the state of Iowa and to develop this program to where it was those glory days under Gayle Blevins.”

Iowa’s fall slate opens up against Gillispie’s alma mater, Kirkwood Community College, on Sept. 14.

“When the job at Iowa opened up, I had an opportunity to make a change in my hometown,” Gillispie said. “That’s what I knew I had to do.”