Tag: Joe Castiglione

Bedlam no more: Athletic Directors cite scheduling as reason for lost rivalry game

Per The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are not planning a nonconference schedule that include Bedlam once OU moves to the SEC.

The announcement of Oklahoma’s future move to the SEC sent shockwaves throughout college football. From a local perspective, it not only surprised Oklahomans but created a sense of animosity from the Sooners’ in-state rival, Oklahoma State.

In the aftermath of Oklahoma’s acceptance into the SEC, Oklahoma State President Kayse Shrum shared her thoughts on the move.

We are disappointed by the lack of engagement and transparency from our colleagues at OU over the past months on a matter with serious ramifications for our state. We have historically worked together to advance our state and address issues based on a partnership built on trust. To that end, we will continue to work with purpose to the advancement of our state and the betterment of our fellow Oklahomans. In the ever-changing college athletic landscape, we will honor our values and ethics as we consider the next steps. Our commitment to our student-athletes is top of mind, and their best interests will be represented prominently. We enjoy a proud athletic heritage with more national championships than any other Big 12 university, and we will aggressively pursue the opportunities ahead. Additionally, our university enjoys a great brand known for education, research, and service, and we will move forward with strength. — Shrum

No mincing words there with her thoughts on the University of Oklahoma. Mike Gundy didn’t hold back either when asked about the future of Bedlam.

I don’t think it will. I just don’t think there’s a business side of it that…I don’t make that decision. I guess Dr. Shrum and Chad Weiberg, they could do whatever they wanted or the board. I don’t know who’s involved in this. I don’t think it’s a realistic thing that it’s going to happen based on the business side of power-five conference football in the Big 12 or the SEC. That’s just my opinion on it. – Gundy

We’ve known Oklahoma State’s thoughts on the matter for some time. OU President Joseph Harroz and Athletic Director Joe Castiglione have maintained that they’d like the game to continue. According to Brett McMurphy of Action Sports, the two sides don’t see a way forward for Bedlam due to scheduling.

McMurphy spoke with the athletic directors of both schools. Chad Weiberg of Oklahoma State and Castiglione of Oklahoma. Oklahoma State’s lack of interest, combined with the reality that nonconference scheduling is planned out so far ahead that both schools are pretty well full, makes it challenging to see a path forward for Bedlam in the next decade.

Oklahoma has planned home and home matchups with SMU, Michigan, Nebraska, and Clemson. Oklahoma State has Arizona State, Arkansas, Nebraska, Alabama, Oregon, and Colorado on the books for future nonconference matchups.

According to McMurphy, OU and OSU prefer to schedule just one Power Five opponent in nonconference. So that provides little room for Bedlam.

Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will lock up in mid-November in a game that will have Big 12 title and College Football Playoff implications. It could also be the last Bedlam game for the foreseeable future. While the move to the SEC isn’t expected until 2025, there’s a chance it could come earlier if OU and Texas are willing to pay the price.

While the SEC is exciting, it is a shame that Bedlams won’t be a part of the regular schedule. Hopefully, a time comes when the two schools can come together and make the game happen. It may be a lopsided rivalry, but it’s one that means a lot for both schools and for the state of Oklahoma.

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Best Photos of Brent Venables from his Oklahoma head coaching debut

After nine months in Norman, the long-awaited debut of Brent Venables lived up to expectations as the Oklahoma Sooners beat UTEP 45-13.

The long-awaited debut of the Brent Venables era at the University of Oklahoma came off without a hitch. Well, mostly.

It wasn’t a perfect day, but the Oklahoma Sooners came away with a 45-13 win over UTEP in a game that was close briefly in the second quarter until Oklahoma turned on the juice again.

Venables’ Sooners came out hungry and played with passion and energy from the get go. Offensively that had several big plays in the first quarter; a deep ball to Marvin Mims, a big run from Eric Gray, a big catch and run from Mims, and then the Gavin Freeman touchdown.

Defensively, they were flying to the football. They weren’t satisfied with one Oklahoma defender getting to the ball. It was as if they all wanted to be in on the tackle. Something that was noticeable in the spring game carried over to the 2022 season opener. Team tackling.

Again, not perfect as the Sooners missed 11 tackles against a tough quarterback and an elusive set of skill players. Still, it was better than the 15 missed tackles allowed against Tulane in week one of 2021.

And as our Ben Dackiw wrote, there was a noticeable difference in what played out on the field in the 2022 season opener compared to a year ago.

Unlike a year ago, the Sooners dominated their opponent on the scoreboard to a 32-point win, came away with 6 sacks, nine tackles for loss, and allowed less than one yard per carry against UTEP’s rushing attack.

Offensively, they were balanced, and Dillon Gabriel looked poised as the Sooners racked up 492 yards of total offense at 8.1 yards per play.

And as important as the scoreboard was how this team looked, winning by 32. They looked like their head coach. A fiery, energetic, passionate, and aggressive team.

After months of preparation, Brent Venables led his team onto the field for the first time and described it as “special.”

“Well, that was really fast. That went really fast. A special day for a lot of reasons,” Brent Venables said. “Most of all, we did a lot of things for the first time today. A lot of players experienced things for the first time. I’m super thankful for the fans today. They were outstanding. Our Walk of Champions and the energy in the stadium when we kicked off was really special. No surprise.”

From the pregame to the game, even as temperatures forced fans to leave their seats, the environment spoke to a new beginning. An excitement that had been building for months to witness what the next era of Oklahoma football would look like.

And when it was all said and done, the Sooners handed a game ball to each player and coach in the locker room. President Joseph Harroz and athletic director Joe Castiglione also received game balls from Brent Venables.

It was an act of appreciation from the Sooners’ new head coach to his staff, administration, and the players for buying into what Venables was preaching and putting in the work.

And in turn, Venables received a game ball from the administration that put their faith in the returning son.

“Yeah, I actually did. Everybody in there got one. We gave them to Joe [Castiglione] and Joe [Harroz]. I gave him to Joe and Joe for believing in me. And this is Oklahoma. They didn’t have to hire me. And I don’t take that for granted at all. So, we gave them a game ball after we gave one to every player and coach in there. So again, we’ve talked about, again, this being Team 128, and we want to celebrate success no matter how it looks. But it’s a special day, certainly, for our players in 2022 and where we want to go as a program. For me, this is gonna be a date that we all remember for a long, long time. So, everybody got one.”

It was an emotional moment that came from 36 years biding his time and waiting on the right place and the right time to take the leap into the head coaching ranks. It was a great debut for Brent Venables and the new-look Sooners. You can take a look back at some of the best photos of Oklahoma’s new head coach from the UTEP game.

OU streaming platform SoonerVision on ESPN+ to launch August 1

SoonerVision on ESPN+ launches on August 1.

The much-publicized “SoonerVision on ESPN+” will finally launch on Aug. 1. No longer will Sooners fans need PPV to view nonconference matchups. From now on, Oklahoma Sooners content will be easily accessible on ESPN+.

The new home for SoonerVision was announced in May.

This deal will affect not only the football program but every varsity program at OU. Every single sport will be more accessible to the average fan. After sky-high ratings for the 2022 Women’s College World Series, Oklahoma softball might get even more publicity than it already does.

This deal with ESPN is the most expansive of its kind for a university athletics program. It includes the OU spring game, archived content and 25-plus OU basketball games.

It’s easy to wonder if OU’s move to the SEC is what got this deal going in the first place. ESPN will be the media rights holder for the SEC starting in 2024 after outbidding former rights holder CBS.

Athletic director Joe Castiglione shared the news Saturday night on social media.

If you don’t want to wait until Monday, have no fear. There’s already good Oklahoma content on the ESPN app, including a recap of the 2000 football season.

ESPN will have a bonanza of Sooners content for you to peruse now and in the future.

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What Brent Venables had to say during his first Big 12 media day press conference

The highlights of Brent Venables turn at the podium on day 2 of Big 12 media days.

The Oklahoma Sooners took their turn at Big 12 media day with Brent Venables taking to the podium and various players doing interviews as well. For Venables, it was his first time to take the stage at a conference media day session after 30 years of coaching. Before taking the Sooners’ head coaching gig, he sat in the background as the defensive coordinator, patiently waiting for his opportunity to take the right head coaching job.

And in December, when he was approached about taking over as head coach for the Oklahoma Sooners, it was the job that made sense for him to make a move.

During his media session, Venables shared a lot about the program’s vision and what he likes about this current group heading into the 2022 season.

University of Oklahoma, Learfield announce 10-year agreement

OU, Learfield agree to new 10-year multimedia agreement, the University of Oklahoma announced Friday.

The University of Oklahoma is taking its next steps into the NIL era of college Athletics.

The university announced Friday that they will “expand their relationship” with their multimedia rightholder Learfield. OU and Learfield have been working together since 1994 and this new agreement will see Learfield keep control over what they already had, but they will also produce digital content for Sooners fans.

Learfield will also provide “additional NIL leadership focus and support.”

Again, Learfield will continue to oversee the services they already had before this agreement, as will the companies that they own. Ticketing, licensing, the Sooner Sports website and the Oklahoma Sooners app will all continue to be ran by Learfield’s affiliates.

Here are some words from Athletic Director Joe Castiglione on the new agreement,

“We’re pleased to finalize a ground-breaking long-term agreement with LEARFIELD – a partner we’ve trusted and leaned on for many years to help us connect with Sooner fans and grow our brand,” said Castiglione to SoonerSports.com. “As with any challenges and changes our industry experiences, we intentionally seek cutting-edge collaborations to move us forward in the marketplace. Their leadership continues to help our administration navigate through areas such as NIL, evolution in the content game and digital innovation. We look forward to their continued partnership corporately as well as through Sooner Sports Properties.”

OU alumnus Kelly Collyar has been named VP and General Manager for Learfield’s Sooner Sports Properties team, which is based in Norman.

Castiglione has had a busy few months. Back in May, OU signed a massive deal to get “Sooner Vision” on ESPN+, and now closes this deal with Learfield. “Joe C’ has done much to prepare his department as best he can for the NIL era.

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ESPN and University of Oklahoma announce multi-year agreement to launch ‘SoonerVision’ on ESPN+

The University of Oklahoma and ESPN have reached an agreement on a new partnership, which will launch “SoonerVision” for on the streaming platform ESPN+.

The college athletics landscape is forever changing and shifting in many ways from conference realignment to NIL to media rights.

The Oklahoma Sooners have been directly affected by all three in recent years and now they get to be a part of it once again.

After years with Bally Sports, the Sooners will enter a multi-year agreement with ESPN+ with an Oklahoma specific channel called “SoonerVision.”

The partnership with ESPN+ is the most expansive of its kind for a university athletics program. Oklahoma athletic director and Vice President Joe Castiglione in a release by the official athletics website says, “SoonerVision on ESPN+ builds upon our previous media successes by offering over 1,000 hours annually of live OU sports events and other programming to ESPN+’s growing subscriber base of more than 21.3 million. As a result, OU fans will now have an easily accessible year-round media home on all their screens.”

In many ways, it sets the stage for Oklahoma as it will make its way to the SEC in the coming years and become a part of the SEC Network also tied in a tight partnership with ESPN.

The infamous Oklahoma pay-per-view football game that’s become an annual occurrence will be no longer as that game likely slots into the “one regular season OU football game” category for those who carry an ESPN+ subscription.

The spring football game will also be accessible via ESPN+. The rest of Oklahoma’s football games will still be found on the ESPN family of networks or on Fox.

Oklahoma basketball will have 25 or more games found on ESPN+ along with other Olympic sports live games like track and field and more.

An ESPN+ subscription also includes access to professional sports like MLB, NHL, LaLiga, Bundesliga, and many other college sports competitions.

The deal allows the Sooner fans access to content from years past and also grants access to OU’s pro day, pregame shows, and a more immersive Sooner experience across the board.

Beginning in August, the content will be available on ESPN+ via the “SoonerVision” landing page, with live events beginning at the start of the fall athletics season.

Pricing for ESPN+ is $6.99 a month (or $69.99 per year) at ESPN.com, ESPNplus.com, or on the ESPN App (mobile and connected devices). It is also available as part of The Disney Bundle that gives subscribers access to Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu for $13.99/month (Hulu w/ads) or $19.99/month (Hulu w/o ads). Subscribers to Hulu + Live TV also receive ESPN+ at no additional cost.

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Oklahoma receives an ‘A-‘ from Athlon Sports for the hiring of Brent Venables

It goes without saying that the Oklahoma Sooners hit a home run when Joe Castiglione brought in Brent Venables to replace Lincoln Riley.

It goes without saying that the Oklahoma Sooners hit a home run when athletic director [autotag]Joe Castiglione[/autotag] brought in the big guns to replace [autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag]. He brought [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] home.

With help from [autotag]Bob Stoops[/autotag], Venables stabilized a program left in turmoil by its former head coach’s sudden departure, and the Oklahoma culture change happened almost overnight.

Sooner Nation was beside itself with joy when the hire was announced. Steve Lassan over at Athlon Sports gave the hire an “A-“ for the Sooners.

Brent Venables, Oklahoma
Previous Job: Defensive Coordinator, Clemson
Venables was regarded as the top defensive coordinator in college football at Clemson and was in no in rush to take a head-coaching job. However, the opportunity to return to Norman where he worked under Bob Stoops from 1999-2011 was simply too enticing. Under Venables’ watch, Clemson ranked inside of the top 10 nationally in scoring defense in six out of the last eight years. Also, the Tigers thrived at creating havoc around the line of scrimmage – an area the Sooners have to focus on improving with the pending move to the SEC. -Steven Lassen, Athlon Sports

Here’s a reminder of how Oklahoma fans felt about the hire of Brent Venables upon his return to Norman.

This offseason saw a ton of movement on the coaching front with several high profile coaches switching Power Five schools.

Venables’ ranking obviously isn’t a slap in the face, but Athlon Sports has Venables below Mario Cristobal, Billy Napier, Brian Kelly and Lincoln Riley. They put Venables on the same tier as Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman and New Mexico State’s Jerry Kill.

Mario Cristobal to Miami was a great hire as well. If he doesn’t bring back The U, no one will.

Brian Kelly’s weird videos on Twitter and fake accent have me very concerned about the future of the LSU Tigers.

Lincoln Riley, well, we’ve said more than enough about Lincoln Riley to USC.

Marcus Freeman made me like Notre Dame simply with this video:

 

From what I’ve heard around campus, Venables’ takeover of the program has gone off without a hitch. He’s instilling a new toughness into the team and the players would go to war for him.

Big things are on the way in Norman, Oklahoma, but we already knew that.

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‘I definitely think it’s time for a new arena’: Oklahoma’s Porter Moser endorses idea of new arena

Oklahoma head men’s basketball coach Porter Moser said, “I definitely think it’s time for a new arena for a lot of reasons.”

The Norman Transcript’s Mindy Ragan Wood reported last week that Cleveland County commissioners are pursuing a partnership with the University of Oklahoma’s athletic department and the OU Foundation to build a sports arena and “mixed-use development” in University North Park.

It’s the resurfacing of a development project proposal that was ultimately withdrawn from council consideration in July 2018 by the OU Foundation.

With a potential new arena once again a topic of conversation, The Oklahoman’s Berry Tramel asked Oklahoma head men’s basketball coach Porter Moser today how he felt about a new arena and if he supported the idea.

“Well, just to give a broad, general statement right now and I’ll probably go into more detail later, yeah, I definitely think it’s time for a new arena for a lot of reasons. And definitely been talking, you know, since I was hired with Joe [Castiglione]. He’s very much in those conversations and very aggressive with those conversations of what we want and done, but definitely. Lloyd Noble is I don’t know what it…is it 50 years old? It’s 50 years old. I mean, there’s people that’s had two arenas since then. Definitely it’s a huge part of what we want and the direction we want to go,” Moser said.

In the meantime, Moser’s focus remains on attracting and selling the fan base and students to come out to the Lloyd Noble Center to support this 2021-22 Oklahoma men’s basketball team.

“I’m doing what I can control right now and that’s trying to get those students in there and people in there and put a product on the floor where we’re playing our tails off that people want to root for us. And I’m going to keep doing that to connect with the students. I love our student body. I think they’re awesome. We all know it. We definitely need a new one,” Moser said.

As Moser indicated, this will be a topic he will readdress in the future once the season concludes.

“You know, like I said, I’ll dive into that more when the season’s over where I can really see the pros and cons of everything. I just know what we need,” Moser said.

Oklahoma men’s basketball is scratching and clawing late in the regular season to position itself for an NCAA Tournament berth. In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projection, he still has the Sooners in the “last four byes” section of his bracket.

After the 80-78 loss in overtime to Texas at home earlier this week, OU is now 14-12 overall and just 4-9 in Big 12 play. Despite leading a majority of the game and then putting together a valiant late-game comeback, OU lost at Kansas, 71-69, the game before Texas after Jordan Goldwire’s jumper to tie was just short to close regulation.

“It takes a lot. I mean, these guys mentally toughness. We’re right there. You’ve got to make some plays, some winning plays at the end. We made a bunch. We were down six or seven to get it to overtime. We had a chance to win it in regulation, didn’t get it done. Same thing at Kansas. We were down and found a way to have the ball to tie it or go [ahead], didn’t make the play. It takes a lot to get to that point. These guys are preparing like crazy. I think our staff, I think we’re game planning, we’re prepping, we’re scouting. The guys are really, really locked in. Just got to get over the hump, make some plays, some really winning plays down the stretch,” Oklahoma head men’s basketball coach Porter Moser said of the Sooners’ back-to-back close losses against Kansas and Texas.

The Sooners have lost nine of their past 11 games and head to Iowa State on Saturday at 1 p.m. for a massive bubble tilt.

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Oklahoma Sooners Quarterback Caleb Williams enters the transfer portal

Looking to explore his options after the coaching change, Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Caleb Williams has entered the transfer portal.

The Oklahoma Sooners have been through a lot since the start of the 2021 college football season. There was a quarterback change, a Bedlam loss, missing out on the Big 12 championship for the first time since 2014, and a coaching change that shocked the sports world.

After the coaching change that saw Lincoln Riley leave the Oklahoma Sooners for USC and Brent Venables arrive as the next head coach, Caleb Williams and his teammates went to work to prepare for the Oregon Ducks and the Valero Alamo Bowl. Williams went 21 of 27 for 242 yards and three touchdowns as the Sooners won 47-32.

Now with the season in the rearview, Williams will evaluate his options by entering the transfer portal.

Caleb Williams shared via his personal Twitter account that he’ll be entering the transfer portal. In his statement, he said, “As you all know the sudden changes this season sent shockwaves through Sooner nation and were really hard for the whole team. Proud of what we did this whole season but especially the last four weeks.”

In his announcement that he’d be entering the transfer portal, Williams shared more about why he’s exploring other options. “I think we all come to college to find our own path and prepare for the future. I came to Oklahoma with a game plan, but with all of the recent changes, I need to figure out what is the right path for me moving forward. According to NCAA rules, as a student-athlete, the only way I can speak with other schools and see who may offer the best preparation and development for my future career is by entering the portal. Staying at OU will definitely be an option as I begin this process.”

In response to Williams decision to enter the transfer portal, Oklahoma Sooners athletic director Joe Castiglione released a statement saying, “Caleb Williams enjoyed an exciting and impactful first season at the University of Oklahoma and we will continue to be engaged with him and his family on a comprehensive plan for his development as a student and a quarterback, including a path to graduation and strategic leveraging of NIL opportunities. While we believe OU provides Caleb the best opportunity to develop as a player and realize his goals for college and beyond, we respect his right to explore his options following key staffing changes here.”

It’s an unfortunate development for the Oklahoma Sooners who’ve now had two highly regarded quarterbacks enter the transfer portal in the last month. First, Spencer Rattler, who found a new home at South Carolina, and now Caleb Williams may do the same.

The Sooners have seen players enter the portal only to return. Theo Wease and Brey Walker have done just that in recent weeks. And Williams has left open the possibility of a return to the Oklahoma Sooners.

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Oklahoma launches OU Exchange, an NIL collaboration in conjunction with INFLCR

Oklahoma Sooners, in conjunction with INFLCR, create OU Exchange, allowing student-athletes to engage in NIL opportunities.

As the Oklahoma Sooners and the rest of collegiate athletics venture into the new world of name, image and likeness, the universities have had to innovate, helping students take advantage of these new options to earn revenue through NIL.

Earlier this year, the OU athletics department launched The Foundry, which would help student-athletes understand and grow their personal branding. Earlier this month, in conjunction with INFLCR, the Oklahoma Sooners announced the formation of OU Exchange, “the latest innovation to help student-athletes and businesses work closely together in developing name, image and likeness (NIL) agreements” per a release from the University of Oklahoma.

Per the release, “OU Exchange, a free service to student-athletes and the commercial enterprises that use it, will help the athletics department customize and manage NIL reporting, while providing approved businesses, collectives and individuals with a customized portal for communicating with student-athletes and fulfilling NIL transactions.”

About the new initiative, athletic director Joe Castiglione said, “This new platform creates a process that is easy, effective, and compliant. It’s much like a job fair that never ends. Businesses and our student-athletes can hold two-way conversations that result in new efficiencies.”

Interested individuals or businesses can apply for approval to OU Exchange and once there can communicate directly with student-athletes about opportunities. INFLCR has created a new software service called INFLCR+ Local Exchange. This NIL registry is a customized program that is tailored for each universities’ needs while providing direct payment to the student-athlete. All transactions will create a direct payment to the athlete, with no transaction fee, and send a disclosure to the university. 

It’s a new day in college athletics and OU Exchange is paving the way for Oklahoma athletes to take part in capitalizing off of their name, image, and likeness.  

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