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OU athletic director Joe Castiglione to retire in coming year

OU athletic director Joe Castiglione will retire during the upcoming 2025-26 school year, ESPN first reported Monday.

Castiglione joined OU in 1998 after spending five seasons in the same role at Missouri. He is currently the longest tenured athletic director in the country. Conversations surrounding Castiglione’s retirement were initiated by him a month ago, according to ESPN.

He will remain the Sooners’ athletic director until the school hires his replacement. There will be a press conference at 9 a.m. Tuesday with Castiglione, president Joseph Harroz Jr. and Board of Regents Chair Anita Holloway in Norman.

"There's a reason Joe has been called the Best Athletics Director in the Country: Because no one has done it better." Harroz said in a statement Monday.

In his time as an athletic director, 32 of his former employees have gone on to become athletic directors at other schools – including Zac Selmon at Mississippi State and Kirby Hocutt at Texas Tech, according to ESPN.

Under Castiglione, OU has won 26 national championships across all sports and moved from the Big 12 to the SEC in 2024. In Castiglione’s tenure, OU football has reached 26 consecutive bowl games, men’s and women’s basketball have combined to reach five Final Fours and softball has won eight national titles, including four straight from 2021-24. Castiglione was elected to the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.

In the current NIL era, OU has made many changes to its athletic department. On Dec. 3, 2024, the school hired former AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson as an executive advisor to the president and athletics director and hired Jim Nagy on Feb. 26 as a general manager for football. As part of revenue sharing beginning on July 1, OU is committed to paying out $20.5 million dollars. Castiglione also recently adjusted his compensation following layoffs in the athletics department. 

Since 2021, ever since athletes could start making money off of their name, image and likeness, OU has had two losing seasons in football and recently snapped a three-year stretch of not making the NCAA Tournament in men’s basketball.

Harroz's statement

July 7, 2025

Dear OU Community:

Tomorrow morning, Vice President and Athletics Director Joe Castiglione will announce publicly that he has decided to retire on June 30, 2028, a date that will be just over 30 years since joining the University of Oklahoma. This moment is not a farewell. Joe will continue to serve as Athletics Director into the coming year and after that, he will assume the role of Emeritus Athletics Director, advising on the search for his replacement and ongoing athletics projects, as well as continuing in a fundraising capacity. A search for his replacement will be led by Randall Stephenson.

As I have reflected on Joe’s decision in the days since he told me, I am filled with both gratitude and respect at the legacy he will leave at this university and the indelible mark he has made in the world of intercollegiate athletics.

From my seat as university president, the role of an Athletics Director is about so much more than managing a university’s athletics programs. An Athletics Director is at the helm of some of the most visible aspects of the university, championing our nation’s ingrained culture of college athletics, instilling a championship mindset, mentoring coaches and students alike, and showcasing our university on a world-wide stage to the millions who watch and cheer for our Sooners.

There’s a reason Joe has been called the Best Athletics Director in the Country: Because no one has done it better.

Under Joe’s leadership, Sooner Magic has thrived. Since his arrival in 1998, OU has won a total of 26 national championships and 117 conference championships, added four additional Heisman trophies, and celebrated countless scoring records and winning streaks. He has recruited and retained some of the winningest coaches in college athletics history and transformed the physical footprint of our stadiums and arenas. Equally, if not more important, Joe insisted that in-the-classroom performance be just as important as wins on the fields or courts. As a result, our student-athletes have record-breaking graduation rates, including a 3.31 cumulative GPA this past Spring.

These successes are all-the-more impressive given that Joe has led OU Athletics through some of the most uncertain and disruptive periods in college athletics. He also has ensured that OU’s Athletics Department be consistently financially self-sustaining – one of the only Athletics Directors in the Big 12 or SEC who can claim this feat. And his leadership during OU’s entry into the SEC will never be forgotten.

Personally, I have worked with Joe nearly all of my career at OU. In addition to colleagues, we have become personal friends, watching each other’s children grow and celebrating life’s milestones. I am hard pressed to think of a man of greater character.

Joe, the University of Oklahoma and its legions of fans owe you an enormous debt of gratitude. We will celebrate you in numerous ways throughout the coming year. But for now, congratulations to you, your wife Kristen, and your sons, Joe and Jonathan, on announcing this next chapter.

Boomer!

Joseph Harroz, Jr.

President

This is a developing story that will be updated.

This story was edited by Parker Coyne.

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