Joe Castiglione shares best advice for next Oklahoma AD

Outgoing Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione shared some advice for those looking for the next AD of the Sooners. Castiglione will step down following the 2025-26 academic year.

So while he described what would make the best, next Oklahoma AD, Castiglione will likely have a say in who fits the mold. He’ll actually stay on in an emeritus role before formally retiring on June 30, 2028.

“Well of course, we want whoever it is to accept the baton and take the program further,” Castiglione said. “The whole idea is to continue to grow the people inside and part of but OU athletics directly, you know, connected with our university. That’s it. It’s a growth mindset. So whoever it is, that’s what they need to do. Like all of us have said, you know, be there to be supportive all along the way. But as the President has mentioned, you know, we could talk about the person’s skill set, the foresight, technical knowledge and all of that, and that’ll get measured. 

“But if you lose the essence of what we’re about in college athletics as part of executing on those kinds of ideas, then you’ve you’ve decoupled what makes us successful, and so whoever that is needs to take whatever new versions college athletics is and couple it with the brightest and the boldest strategies and tactics and be unapologetic for loving what you do.” 

Castiglione is a big stickler for relationships. The next Oklahoma athletic director simply can’t come in and do the job and nothing else. You have to be able to take that extra step.

“I keep looking at so many people in this room, and especially our head coaches,” Castiglione said. “I see my assistant of 21 years, Jen Meeks, here, and my current assistant, and they they’ve been in the foxhole too, and they see what’s going on. But I remember trying to convince coaches to come to Oklahoma, what we were and what we’re about. So we were selling these really key characteristics, and most importantly, the elements of what makes a great culture and how it grows and develops. 

“So that’s got to be part of what this next person brings, and involve the family. I see our First Lady, Ashley Harrison, as the president said, this is just not some kind of sales pitch. When you throw family out there, we are unapologetic for who we are as a family. You’re going to see the emotions like you see. We’re going to just be who we are because we want people to be authentic.”