The Oklahoma Sooners have officially joined the [autotag]SEC[/autotag]; the move became official on Monday. The university held several events across Norman to celebrate the move.
SEC Network was on hand with a showcase of Oklahoma athletics. [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag], [autotag]Bob Stoops[/autotag], [autotag]Patty Gasso[/autotag] and [autotag]Skip Johnson[/autotag] were among the most notable OU figures to join SEC Network hosts.
But it wasn’t just present and former coaches who stepped into the bright lights of television. OU athletic director [autotag]Joe Castiglione[/autotag] and university president [autotag]Joseph Harroz Jr.[/autotag] joined “SEC Now” on Monday afternoon. The topic of discussion turned to the initial conversations with Oklahoma coaches about the school’s decision in 2021 to leave the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] and join the SEC.
“I will tell you without reservation,” Castiglione said, “every coach we talked to was excited. And, you know what? The ones that weren’t aren’t here anymore. This is Oklahoma. Either get with it or get on with it.”
Joe Castiglione with molten hot lava SEC Now:
“I will tell you, without reservation, every coach that we talked to was excited. And, you know what, the ones that weren’t aren’t here anymore.”
“This is Oklahoma. Either get with it or get on with it.” pic.twitter.com/C2HfFnidIm
— Josh Callaway (@JoshMCallaway) July 1, 2024
This, of course, drew quite the reaction from the panel on “SEC Now,” that included ESPN’s Dari Nowkhah and Alyssa Lang, as well as SEC commissioner [autotag]George Sankey[/autotag]. All were well aware of who Castiglione was likely referencing.
“We call that a mic drop,” Harroz Jr. said.
Castiglione’s remarks are most likely about former head football coach [autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag], who departed for USC a few months after news broke that OU would be leaving for the SEC. Riley denied the SEC move had anything to do with him leaving. Oklahoma fans, on the other hand, have long believed it’s because he didn’t want to play against the strict competition in the SEC.
Riley had three attempts against the SEC in the playoffs and came up empty. Then reports came out that Riley and the Trojans tried to get out of playing LSU this year and next. And then USC and Ole Miss canceled their two-game series.
But Castiglione dropped the biggest nugget in the whole sage.
This may be the closest thing we ever get to confirmation from Castiglione that Sooner Nation’s suspicions were, in fact, true. After news broke in July of 2021 that the Sooners were moving conferences, Riley led an unfocused 2021 regular season and bolted to Los Angeles hours after it was over.
We all remember the L.A. Times report that stated Riley’s move was months in the making. Riley, on the other hand, insists that Southern Cal convinced him to move his family across the country and be their coach in a matter of hours. Riley hopped on a plane headed west less than a day after losing to Oklahoma State at the end of 2021.
The SEC would have provided harsher competition that the Big 12 did. That’s still absolutely the case. Whether or not that’s why Riley walked may never truly be known. The important thing is Castiglione has his guy to lead the Sooners into the SEC. [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] embraced the challenge of the toughest conference in college athletics, and the Sooners are finally official members of the SEC.
All that’s left now is to win football games.
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