In year one at the helm, the former Fresno State and Oregon assistant guided the Broncos to a 40-10 record, bringing BSU just shy of an NCAA Tournament berth. He followed that up with a trophy.

On Friday night, transfer Lindsey Walljasper fired a one-hitter as Boise State beat Fresno State to clinch the Mountain West regular-season championship for the second time in program history (BSU also won the title in 2018).

“It was surreal,” Shults told the Idaho Press. “You go through all the emotions of the hard work, the ups and downs, everybody doubting you when our team started 9-10 early in the season. You start to reflect on everything. I don’t think people realize how hard it is to win a championship, regardless of what conference you’re in.”

Especially in two years.

After just missing out on the tournament last season, Shults decided the best way to prepare his squad for April and May softball was to load their schedule. Of the current Top 20 teams —according to RPI — Boise State has played four of them — not even including games against UCF (No. 33), Michigan (No. 39), Ohio State (No. 44) and Arizona State (No. 46).

Talking about his non-conference slate, Shults pointed to last weekend. Boise State needed two wins against San Diego State to win the conference title. It lost a tight one 5-3 on Friday. It got blown out on Saturday. But the Broncos responded for a win on Sunday, then took two from Fresno State to earn the trophy.

“A team that hasn’t been through the wringer doesn’t respond on Sunday with a W,” Shults said. “You look at the last five games, that is what the non-conference slate set us up for.”

Also helping this championship run, Shults noted, was he and his staff’s belief in the players they inherited and then the ability to fill needs through the transfer portal.

The Broncos landed Walljasper via the portal. It landed sisters Eliyah and Alycia Flores in the portal. And it grabbed Kelsey Hall from the portal and helped her develop into one of the best power hitters in the nation.

“We got to put the vision together,” Shults said, crediting his group of assistants in Allie Walljasper, Fran Strub and Maddy Zerr. “If I can give new head coaches advice — don’t miss on your assistants. Without great assistants and a great staff, you’re not going to be able to succeed.”

Two weeks after Dickey said of BSU’s softball program, “It’s not out of the question that we’re gonna be a Top 25 program year in and year out,” Shults and his team have made that idea even more attainable.

“We live in a society of momentum — with instant gratification in terms of social media and just what people expect nowadays,” Shults said. “And, so, I think we have to run with the momentum we have. … We have a lot of good freshmen coming in next year, a lot of good returners coming back.

“For us, it’s never a rebuild, it’s a reload — putting the pressure on everybody else in our conference to do the same thing.”

Because the Broncos won the regular-season championship, they will be slated to host the Mountain West Tournament next season. Well, if they have lights. You see, Boise State’s home stadium — Dona Larsen Park — currently doesn’t have lights, and the conference tournament can’t be held at a place without lights.

Shults has been vocal about his desire for Boise State to add lights — a mission Dickey has been on board with. After Saturday’s victory, Dickey tweeted, “You know what that means” — to which Shults responded with a Gif of a million strobe lights.

“He’s very aggressive when it comes to things and I like to return the favor,” Shults said with a chuckle. “This gives us a chance to move up the priority list. He (Dickey) knows how important it is to bring championships to Boise. Our job was to win a championship to force his hand. I believe he’ll be able to get it done for us.”