Oklahoma insider reveals if Joe Castiglione was forced out of his job at Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Sooners are looking at a major change of leadership within their athletic department. Longtime athletic director Joe Castiglione is reportedly going to be retiring.

Given the timing, alongside some recent struggles for the football program, there has been some thought that Castiglione was forced out at Oklahoma. Despite that, Oklahoma insider George Stoia III shared on SoonerScoop that this wasn’t the case.

“No, he wasn’t forced out,” Stoia said. “But I do think with all of the changes that have happened in the last year in the athletic department, I do think that Joe C’s role has somewhat changed as the athletic director. Maybe he didn’t have as much say, or there were more voices in terms of things.”

The 67-year-old Castiglione is stepping down at a time of major change for college athletics. The House settlement is a major shakeup to the world of college athletics. On top of that, schools like Oklahoma are reshaping their athletic departments, hiring general managers and moving to a front office structure. At the same time, Castiglione has been heavily involved in those changes for the Sooners.

“Now, I will say he was an integral part of hiring Ben Arbuckle,” Stoia said. “That was something he did alongside Brent Venables. He helped with the search for a general manager in Jim Nagy. I know that he and Randall Stephenson, as well as Joe Harris, worked very closely together on that search for a GM. I mean, the front office model was Joe Castiglione’s idea several years ago. So, he had a huge hand in that.”

Joe Castiglione first got to Oklahoma in 1998 after previously being the Missouri athletic director. He’d quickly hire Bob Stoops to lead the football program, proving to be one of the best hires of his career and leading to a national championship in football. Along the way, Oklahoma won 25 national championships under Castiglione, the program moved to the SEC, and he was elected into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.

“So, 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.”

Joe Castiglione isn’t going to immediately leave Oklahoma. The plan is that he will stay on as the school’s athletic director emeritus. In that role, he’s going to have the chance to mentor the next athletic director in Norman.

“Now, I think he’ll still have a hand these next few years,” Stoia said. “Obviously, in the athletic department in terms of helping guide whoever the next person is. Maybe that’s why they want to keep him on for the next few years is whoever they hire, maybe they don’t have a ton of AD experience, like a Zac Selmon, right? That’s somebody that Zac could lean on, or somebody else that they hire, it would make a lot of sense.”

Now, Randall Stephenson, who is the school’s Executive Advisor, is going to be tasked with hiring the next AD at Oklahoma. It’s a massive hire in this new era of college athletics. So, finding an administrator who fits the school quickly is going to be massive.