Tag: Joe Castiglione

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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Oklahoma’s ‘alignment’ has allowed the Sooners to salvage 2022 recruiting class

What looked like to be a down year for Oklahoma Sooners in recruiting after the coaching change has reemerged as one of the best recruiting classes in 2022.

Several things stuck out from Brent Venables’ opening remarks when he was officially introduced as the 23rd head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. But one of them has already played out in a big way over the last couple of weeks, even before Venables was brought on board. And that’s the value of alignment.

When the news that Lincoln Riley was leaving hit the Oklahoma Sooners, the leadership didn’t sulk or pout, Joseph Harroz and Joe Castiglione immediately got to work. Though their first call was to Bob Stoops to help as interim head coach during the transition, they didn’t stop there. They met with the current players, and they made sure they had assistants on staff to further the Oklahoma Sooners’ efforts on the recruiting trail.

Immediately after taking the helm, Bob Stoops was out on the road with assistants DeMarco Murray, Joe Jon Finley, and Cale Gundy to connect with Oklahoma commitments to see where they stood. They were gone, and there was nothing the Sooners’ contingent was going to be able to do about it. However, their in-home visits made a difference for a lot of kids whether they planned to stay committed to Oklahoma or not.

It was the mere reminder that there is only one Oklahoma and that the program is bigger than one man. The show of strength and the foundation of excellence helped carry the Sooners during the interim before Brent Venables, and his staff started coming together. And it was an alignment of vision that proclaimed the players are the program that allowed the Sooners to keep a steady focus.

It was that alignment. From the president of the university to the assistants making visits, the Sooners had a plan, and they’ve executed that plan as the early signing day approaches.

The alignment of the leadership is what made Oklahoma such an attractive place for not just Brent Venables but a host of coaches looking to land a job at one of the premier schools in college football.

It’s that alignment that has allowed for there to be a smooth transition, even as Venables and Lebby redirect recruiting efforts from the west coast to Oklahoma, Texas, and the southeast, namely Florida.

The leadership and the vision from the top down helped the program maintain focus even during a short season of turmoil. It’s the alignment that helped recover a 2022 recruiting class that was as low as 27th a week ago on 247Sports Team Rankings but has risen back to 12th in the country. On3 Recruiting has the Sooners at ninth in the nation as the early signing period gets set to bring in the next wave of Oklahoma Sooners.

The Oklahoma Sooners are in a great spot heading into the early signing period. Though they won’t end up with the top five class they were heading for, this still has a chance to be an incredible group of players that will have a significant impact on Saturdays.

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WATCH: Oklahoma Football provides a look back on the day Brent Venables returned “home”

Oklahoma Football released a video providing a brief inside look at the Sunday that brought Brent Venables “home.”

The Sunday Lincoln Riley left for the USC shook the state of Oklahoma. The response by Joseph Harroz, Joe Castiglione, and Sooners fans was an eruption of emotion a week later with the hiring of Brent Venables.

The Oklahoma Sooners were methodical in their hiring, staying true to their values, and hiring the guy they tabbed as their first choice from the beginning. A week ago Sunday, it started with a report that OU leadership was going to South Carolina. The prevailing thought was that they were on their way to meet with Brent Venables to make him their next head coach. It was a done deal by the afternoon as reports came out that the Sooners were planning on making it official later that night.

By the time Venables arrived in Norman, thousands had descended on the airport where the Sooners’ private jet would welcome Venables home like the long-lost son. Venables was met with what looked like a pep rally the week of homecoming, which, it was in a way.

Sunday night, the Oklahoma Football social media team provided a brief look at Venables’ return to Norman, which felt more like an episode of “Friday Night Lights” than a coaching hire.

In Venables’ first meeting with the team, he can be heard saying, “we are the elite.” That Oklahoma Football is among the elite college football programs in the country.

And after two decades without a national championship and a couple of down years, Venables hopes to return the Sooners to the pinnacle of college football. A national championship win.

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OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. throws perceived shade at Lincoln Riley while introducing new head coach Brent Venables

University of Oklahoma president Joseph Harroz Jr. shared that “all the great” coaches in OU history have names that start with “B.”

It was a celebration inside the Everest Indoor Training Center as University of Oklahoma president Joseph Harroz Jr. and OU athletics director Joe Castiglione officially introduced Brent Venables as Oklahoma’s 23rd head football coach.

Atop a stage adorned with Oklahoma’s past national championship trophies, Harroz addressed why Venables was the right man for the job to those in attendance.

“When we went out and looked for a coach, we had two criteria. The first criteria was do they have coaching excellence? And you look at the resume — and I know you all already know it — but our new coach has a resume second to none,” Harroz said.

OU’s 15th president then listed off some of Venables’ accomplishments. Harroz detailed that each of Venables’ past seven defenses at Clemson ranked inside the top 15 in total defense and that six were ranked inside the top 10 in total defense.

He talked about how Venables has never been a part of a losing season in his 26 years as a full-time coach and that Venables’ teams have won 13 conference championships and played in eight national championship games.

“He’s got three rings to prove it,” Harroz said.

Then, Harroz discussed the second piece of criteria that Venables met.

“He’s known and his resume is complete. He’s waited his entire career patiently for the right head coaching job. But, the second criteria isn’t just are you a great coach? It’s will you believe and will you live those ideals we talked about? About developing the whole student athlete, about preparing you not just for the league, but well beyond. About being a place where we keep our commitments and a place where we are family. And I could not be more proud to have him as our new coach. Let’s wrap this thing up for my part. Coach, welcome home,” Harroz said.

All of this was to be expected. After all, it was a pep rally complete with the Pride of Oklahoma, the spirit squads and the RUF/NEKS.

What caught the crowd by surprise and delighted them all the same was the not so subtle dig at former head coach Lincoln Riley before that.

Harroz referenced the highlight video littered with past Oklahoma greats that played before he, Castiglione and then Venables took the stage.

“You saw in the video the Sooner tradition. Right, you see all the greats. All the great coaches who it seems all names start with a ‘B.’ That’s right. You hear me,” Harroz said.

Message received loud and clear. Oklahoma feels it officially has its next “great” head coach.

One of its past greats couldn’t attend, but Harroz passed along Bob Stoops’ message.

“Alright, I’ve got a message to deliver from somebody that wishes he were here. As you might imagine, there’s been a lot of conversation with Bob Stoops over the last week. Right, he steps up every time. He wanted to be here, but he’s busy on FOX. He’s also busy getting inducted into the Hall of Fame. That’s right. And so, Bob delivered a speech to me to give to you and it’s as you can imagine of some length. It’s seven words. These are his seven words and I’ll read them verbatim. He said, ‘You tell them. We got our guy,'” Harroz said.

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Oklahoma Sooners hit a home run with the hiring of Brent Venables

The Oklahoma Sooners made an excellent hire with Brent Venables.

If last night’s response to Brent Venables’ arrival to Norman was any indication, Sooners Nation is fired up about the hire of its 23rd head coach. Venables arrived to take the Oklahoma job, serenaded by the Sooners’ fight song with thousands of fans awaiting the new head coaches’ arrival.

Instantly, his energy and passion took over as he greeted the warm reception and restored confidence in a program that was left shaken a week ago.

The event that took place today at the Everest Center in Norman furthered the hype behind the hiring of Brent Venables.

Lincoln Riley had his success, of that there’s no doubt, but all of the success he had in the conference couldn’t translate to winning on the national stage. Though Venables doesn’t have head coaching experience, he’s gone up against the best the College Football Playoff had to offer, and he and the Clemson Tigers came out on top twice.

Clemson’s wins over Alabama in the 2016 and 2018 national title games represent the only time since 2014 that a team that wasn’t from the SEC won the national title.

Venables carries the same swagger that emboldened Bob Stoops to speak out against the SEC as some unstoppable juggernaut. In Stoops’ final years as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, he would consistently and unabashedly share that the SEC wasn’t the be-all, end-all of college football. In his remarks today from the even in Norman, Venables shared that same confidence. That he was the guy to lead them into the SEC, and he’s got the track record of recruiting and success on the field to prove it.

Today, in his introductory remarks, the energy, confidence, and passion he coaches with spoke volumes. However, the love he has for his players is what hits home. He spoke of his relationships with his players not being transactional. He spoke of serving the players’ hearts and not their talent. He spoke of graduating students and helping them have the best college experience. Venables spoke of that being foundational to winning a national championship. While getting to the top spot in the country is a goal, according to Venables, it doesn’t happen unless student-athletes graduate, develop as men, and have a great college experience.

Brent Venables is just the shot in the arm this program needed in the wake of last week’s coaching change. Former players and current players have already expressed their excitement for Oklahoma’s new head coach. If that doesn’t resonate with recruits considering the University of Oklahoma, I don’t know what will.

He’s been endorsed by former players, some that still play for Clemson, and in the statements from the University of Oklahoma, was endorsed by Hall of Fame Coaches Bob Stoops and Bill Snyder.

It has to translate to the field when the Sooners embark on the 2022 season, but from where the program was a week ago to how we feel about it now, this has been an A+ hire by Joseph Harroz and Joe Castiglione.

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Oklahoma officially names Brent Venables the 23rd head coach of the Sooners

The University of Oklahoma officially named Brent Venables the next head coach of the Sooners, with statements from OU leadership.

The University of Oklahoma officially named Brent Venables the next head coach of the Sooners. Venables was greeted with an incredible reception in Norman as thousands of fans gathered to greet the head coach who will lead the Sooners into the next era of Oklahoma football.

Venables joins the Sooners after helping the Clemson Tigers win two national titles with defenses that were some of the best in college football during his tenure.

Per a release from the University of Oklahoma, there will be an event tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. that is open to the public to welcome Brent Venables back to the Oklahoma Sooners. The event will take place at the Everest Training Center, which is located one block east of Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Per the release:

A former 13-year University of Oklahoma assistant coach who won a national championship with the Sooners and two more with Clemson University during a highly successful 10-year stint as defensive coordinator, Brent Venables has been named OU’s 23rd head football coach, President Joseph Harroz Jr. and Vice President and Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione announced Sunday evening.

Since joining Clemson prior to the 2012 season, Venables has constructed one of the nation’s top defenses. Over the last 10 years, the Tigers rank first nationally in sacks (445; next most is 392) and opponent third-down conversion percentage (30.2%), second in opponent pass efficiency rating (111.1) and takeaways (244; tied), third in scoring defense (17.8 ppg) and opponent completion percentage (53.3), fourth in total defense (311.4 ypg) and pass defense (190.5 ypg), fifth in interceptions (148) and sixth in rushing defense (120.9 ypg). They won conference titles each year from 2015-20.

Below are statements from Oklahoma leadership, new head coach Brent Venables, and former Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder.