In first head coaching role, former Ole Miss pitching coach plans to stay true to her roots
Ashley Chastain wasn’t looking for a new job; she was comfortable exactly where she was. The pitching coach at Ole Miss, Chastain shepherded a pitching staff that helped lead the Rebels to their second Super Regional berth in three years. Even with the graduation of Brittany Finney, Chastain says she was “excited” for what the 2020 season had in store.
Then she got a call from Charlotte athletic director Mike Hill.
Hill was calling to gauge Chastain’s interest in his school’s vacant head coaching position. The job intrigued the longtime assistant coach, particularly as an opportunity to take a big step in her career while staying in the Southeast, where she played collegiately and has spent the majority of her coaching career.
As she considered accepting the position, Chastain looked beyond just the team’s on-field potential: “I really wanted to make sure that I felt like it was a really great fit for me, personally” she said. “I know that I’m gonna be able to thrive in that environment.”
Prior to her pair of seasons at Ole Miss, Chastain spent a single season at Michigan State and three seasons on staff at College of Charleston, as well as a stint as a graduate assistant on staff at South Carolina. This is her first head coaching position, a new role that will undoubtedly come with a learning curve.
“There’s having a bit of a broader perspective, being able to manage the entire team,” Chastain said. “For me, it’s going to be really key to hire some fantastic people around me that I can trust, and that have responsibility so that I can still thrive in the bullpen and still be able to do what I’m passionate about and love.”
Even in her new role as the “big boss” of the 49ers instead of just a member of the coaching staff, Chastain plans to remain as her new team’s primary pitching coach and work regularly with the team’s pitching staff. “I love that part of the game, and I’m very passionate about that part of the game,” Chastain added. “I love preparing for opponents and coming up with strategies with the pitching staff.”
As she settles into her new role at Charlotte, Chastain is still mere weeks removed from the nail-biting regional win that sent Ole Miss to the Tucson Super Regional. As she reflected on her time in Oxford, an occasional “we” slipped out when she talked about the Rebels’ team. Despite spending just two seasons with the program, Chastain made her mark, especially during the 2019 season that saw Brittany Finney enjoy a breakout senior season and Molly Jacobsen adjust well in her first year in the SEC.
Giving an outlook on her 2020 club, Chastain sees a lot of positives, while still identifying room for the program to grow. “I think we’re looking for a more competitive experience,” she mused, later adding, “I’m definitely going to create a lot of structure and routine, and go to work on establishing that and just making the players better… for the offense, a lot of them had success last year, so I think that will be about managing the successful pieces and just creating a bit more around them.”
As she builds her coaching staff, Chastain said she will look for coaches that compliment her own style of instruction, noting that she is likely to hire a staff with whom she has some familiarity: “I want to be able to bring in somebody who knows how to run an offense, and I definitely want to have people that I know I can trust,” she said. She completed the first step in this process with the hiring of Anthony Aresco as an assistant coach in late June; Aresco was a member of the Ole Miss support staff during the 2019 season and worked closely with Chastain in Oxford.
While Charlotte looks to rebound from their 15-win season this year, Chastain will look to continue her career’s pattern of success as she embraces her new title as 49ers’ head coach.
