Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione Hopes His Successor Will 'Lean Into the Future'

The search is officially on for Joe Castiglione’s replacement at Oklahoma. 

“Joe 2.0 will be their actual title,” OU president Joseph Harroz Jr. joked when he was asked what he’s looking for to replace the legendary athletic director. 

Former AT&T CEO and OU alumnus Randall Stephenson will lead the search committee, but whoever is hired next will step into a challenging role. 

The landscape of collegiate athletics is ever-changing, and this process has only been accelerated over the past five years. 

First, athletic departments had to get through the pandemic. Then, Name, Image and Likeness blew up the amateur model. 

The House Settlement finally came into effect on July 1, but jobs for athletic directors across the country have undergone significant transformation. 

"I think you can look across various industries,” Castiglione said on Tuesday. “They all go through some moment of disruption and change, and the ones that see the future, that adapt, pivot, be flexible, those are the ones that navigated, not only survive, but become stronger when they get on the other side.”

“… You have to be comfortable with the uncomfortable period that we're in, and that's where we are.”

In many ways, Castiglione set the stage for the next era of Oklahoma athletics. 

He joined with Texas to get the Red River Rivals into the Southeastern Conference, locking down financial stability for the athletic department. 

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With the help of Stephenson, there has been a restructuring process within the athletic department to prepare for OU opting into the maximum allowed revenue-sharing agreement as a result of the House Settlement. 

Catiglione’s successor will have Oklahoma-specific challenges — the state of the football program and the continued push for SEC-quality facilities are among the biggest — but they’ll also have to tackle the widespread issues that impact all of collegiate athletics. 

“This is a big question. It’s one everyone wrestles with all the time,” Castiglione said. “… If you’re looking at one thing that has to be addressed, that’s the mesh point between the athletes and the sports they play… Every team has the connection of the mesh point, why you're part of it.”

Adopting the changes from the House Settlement is only the jumping-off point for college athletics’ new model. There will be changes and alterations in the years to come, which will fall on conference commissioners and athletic directors across the country. 

“The idea of recognizing the world we're in, the athletes that contribute their time, their talent, and the universities they represent, involves compensation,” Castiglione said. “… My hope still, is that college athletics stays true to its core that is connected to the North Star, which is education, and that it finds its footing, its structure to be successful in a changing world where it's okay to celebrate your athletes and it's okay for them to share in something that is making the overall program successful. 

“And they still want to come and be part of a great university. They want to develop, they want to have the relationships with coaches. They just can do it in in a new structure."

Charting the path forward for Oklahoma’s new athletic director will be difficult, but Castiglione has advice for whoever he passes the baton off to over the coming year. 

“Sometimes you don't have full control of everything, but you better exert as much as you can, but lean into the future and don't be afraid to be a change agent,” Castiglione said. And know what comes with that. It's not going to be always popular, and not everybody is going to understand the elements to it. 

“But I will tell you, the ones that look at what the mission is and keep their eye looking forward, they're the ones that are going to win.”