OU athletics director Joe Castiglione will retire during the upcoming 2025-26 school year, ESPN first reported Monday.
Castiglione has been serving as the athletic director since 1998. Before coming to OU, Castiglione spent five years at Missouri in the same role.
OU has won 26 national titles and 117 league titles in his tenure. The Sooners moved to the SEC from the Big 12 in 2024, under Castiglione.
Here are reactions following Castiglione’s retirement from former OU athletes, coaches and executives:
Bill Hancock: Former Executive Director of the College Football Playoff
“You could tell immediately that Joe had charisma, common sense, wisdom and plus he was a really, really good human being.”
“As a Sooner alum, I was thrilled when he went to OU. I assumed he’d be in Missouri forever. When I heard he was going to OU, I thought good things would happen for OU athletics and my goodness, did they ever.”
“His legacy is obvious. What he’s done with the facilities with the programs across the board, Oklahoma has been successful across the board and it’s because Joe was a great leader and hired the right people.”
Marita Hynes: Former OU softball head coach from 1977-84
“I was at [Devon Park] watching OU play Missouri. The president called and said ‘come back, we’ve hired an athletic director,’. So I got back and he didn’t tell me who it was, and it was Joe… Joe is absolutely brilliant. He knows how to build a program.”
“I’ve been around Joe enough and listened to some of his decisions, and I cannot tell you how much I respect what he has done.”
“He just cares about people, and he’s always treated me with so much respect, and I appreciate that… Back in those days it was a man’s world and fighting through the Title IX stuff that we did, and Joe was very supportive of everything we did.”
Steve Spurrier Jr.: Former OU wide receivers coach 1999-2001
“He was always consistently Joe Castiglione; he was always him. He never jumped off the wire one way or the other.”
“Bob (Stoops) always said, 'If I had a chance to go back to Florida, I don’t know how I’d turn that down.’ He said, ‘Every time he had an opportunity to take it, Oklahoma, Joe Castiglione and President Boren, it was too good here.’”
“Oklahoma is who they are and what their history is will always allow them to move forward. I think they’ll embrace that, and I think it’ll allow them to elevate everything they do and every program.”
“He’ll go down and be regarded as one of the best to do it, I know that.”
Jamelle Holieway: Former OU quarterback 1985-88
“He is really the catalyst that brought our university back together when it was in shambles. When he came here, our stuff was gold because of our history, and he took it to a platinum stage.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a man to come to the university and touch the university like Joe has. Even though he’s stern and firm in how he does stuff, he's fair.”
“To be able to be at the University of Oklahoma was a dream job for him, and he got it. He’s taken the university to the highest that we can go in every sport by winning a national championship in every sport during his tenure at Oklahoma.”
Dimitri Flowers: Former OU fullback 2014-17
“He’s just a genuine guy. He is very straightforward and he cares about everybody in his life, especially anybody that he comes across. That’s one thing that did stick out to me.”
“He's someone who could name everyone in the building and that just says a lot for someone to be as high level as he is and still be able to have that relationship with people day in and day out.”
Renzi Stone: Former OU men’s basketball player from 1996-2000; former OU regent
“I was a junior, and I walked into his office to introduce myself. I just remember thinking that everybody knew his resume from Missouri, and I remember thinking he was a buttoned up professional and I really like that about him.”
“He saw the future in the era that was to come. So he was the perfect hire for OU at the time because he was able to navigate all the changes and get us to where we’ve been for the last 30 years, which has been an incredible run.”
“He made Oklahoma prominent again. We are prominent again in the land of collegiate athletics, and that prominence doesn’t happen if you have a leader like Joe at the helm.”
Ty Darlington: Former OU center and graduate assistant 2012-15, 2017-20
“His legacy in the long run is going to be the impact he had on so many athletes and their experiences. He’s so down to earth, so friendly to the people he comes across and he’s just a salt of the earth type of human being.”
“I will always be really grateful to him because at a time in my life where I didn’t know what I was doing, I was an athlete that was no longer wearing the logo anymore. He helped me as a person get started on figuring out what was next, and I think that speaks volumes about who he is.”
“I know there’s statues around campus, but I feel like there should be a Joe Castiglione statue somewhere. He’s responsible for so much of the success and evolution of the entire athletics department.”
This story was edited by Parker Coyne.
