It shouldn’t come to surprise to anyone that Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione has the utmost respect amongst his peers and national media around the country.
The leader of the Sooners’ athletic department has kept Oklahoma as one of the few self-sufficient athletic departments in the country. Castiglione has handled nearly every situation with a progressive, classy thought process.
But he has also made some hires that have helped him become Stadium’s No. 1 athletic director amongst NCAA Division 1-FBS schools.
Castiglione arrived at Oklahoma in 1998 and then hired Bob Stoops in 1999. Stoops would go on to become the all-time winningest coach in the football program’s history while leading the Sooners to a national championship in 2000, a bowl game in every season and 10 Big 12 Championships.
He would go on to hire Jeff Capel to replace Kelvin Sampson and then Lon Kruger to replace Capel. The two hires combined to go to eight NCAA Tournaments, two Elite Eight appearances and one Final Four appearance.
Then, Castiglione’s most recent hire is current head coach Lincoln Riley, who took the baton from Stoops in the summer of 2017. Riley has done nothing but continue where Stoops left off. Oklahoma has won three-straight Big 12 Championships and made three College Football Playoffs in Riley’s first three years.
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