Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione shares additional details on succession plan, retirement timeline

On Monday, Oklahoma announced that athletic director Joe Castiglione will be retiring this year. Castiglione held a press conference today to provide further details on his decision.

“Castiglione will remain in the job through the end of the year before taking an emeritus role. He says he wanted to give the school ‘plenty of runway’ to search for his successor,” ESPN’s Eli Lederman reported from Castiglione’s press conference. “Castiglione says he plans to remain in his emeritus role through to July 2028, when he’ll formally retire after 30 years in the school’s athletic department.”

Castiglione has been Oklahoma’s athletic director since 1998. Since Castiglione took over at Oklahoma, the school has won a total of 25 national championships in college athletics, including in football (2000) and softball (2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024).

Castiglione guided Oklahoma during its transition from the Big 12 to the SEC. The 67-year-old has hired three football head coaches during his tenure at Oklahoma: Bob Stoops, Lincoln Riley and Brent Venables. Additionally, he’s hired three men’s basketball head coaches: Jeff Capel, Lon Kruger and Porter Moser.

In 2004, Castiglione won the Bobby Dodd Award for athletic director of the year. He was also named National Athletic Director of the Year in May 2009 by the SportsBusiness Journal. In 2018, it was announced Castiglione would be inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of fame.

Castiglione is stepping down from his role as AD during a pivotal time in college athletics. Last month, the House v. NCAA settlement was finally approved, ushering in the revenue sharing era and completely altering the NIL landscape.

After Oklahoma football — the school’s largest revenue generator — posted a 6-7 record last season, some fans openly wondered if Castiglione’s decision to step down wasn’t entirely his own choice. However, SoonerScoop’s George Stoia III clarified that nobody forced Joe Castiglione out of his role.

“He still had a huge hand in a lot of things, but I do think that somewhat over the last year or so, the role has changed. Not just for Joe C. I think it’s changed at other athletic departments. Maybe that played a role in Joe deciding to retire, but I think it’s all of it. I think it’s all of it combined,” Stoia said.

“Whether it’s the changing of people inside their own athletic department, or the changing nature of all of college athletics. I mean, he’s been in this business for nearly 50 years now. It’s changed so much. Especially now, it’s certainly not what it used to be, and I think that he looks at it and says, ‘Look, I’m 67.’ He’s got other things he wants to do in his life, I’m sure in retirement.”