Welcome to the SEC: Why OU AD Joe Castiglione believes his program is a ‘perfect fit’ in new conference
OU athletics director Joe Castiglione isn’t afraid of the SEC. Far from it.
Castiglione, who has been the leader of OU athletics for 26 years, has been a part of a dominant run in athletics for the university, winning 25 national titles in five different sports. During OU’s 28 years in the Big 12, only Texas won more conference titles. Oklahoma won 103 Big 12 Championships. Texas won 239. But if you remove Olympic sports like track and field and swimming and diving, the Sooners have the most conference titles by a good margin.
It was a dominant 28-year run for OU, most notably winning 14 conference titles in football. But that run has come to an end. On Monday, Oklahoma officially joined the toughest conference in collegiate athletics — the Southeastern Conference.
“We’re joining a league with a storied history and schools that are the pinnacle of some of the greatest college traditions we’ve all learned to follow as long as we can remember and fanbases that are just as passionate as they come,” Castiglione told SoonerScoop.com in Deston at SEC Spring Meetings in May. “Everyone has been fantastic from the first meeting that we were invited to attend. Commissioner Sankey has been a terrific leader in all of that. As I mentioned, our institutions have a lot more similarities than people think and because of that, it just has a natural fit to it. And we’re just interested in continuing to strengthen our program so that we can be successful.
“We feel like we’re a perfect fit because we know that world. We want to share that with the new institutions as well as for them to be able to come to Norman like we’re traveling to their campuses. And then of course the competition is going to be great. It’s what we’re running to.”
It’s been more of a sprint for Castiglione and the Sooners.
When it was originally announced in 2021 that OU and Texas would be leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, the two schools intended to not leave until 2025. That was fast-forwarded a year with both the Sooners and Longhorns wanting out early. Combined with the Big 12 looking to move on from its two long-time bell cows.
Three years to prepare for the move is a shorter time than it seems. And while OU remained focused on winning championships in the Big 12, behind the scenes they were preparing for the SEC and the difficulties it will bring.
During those three years, Castiglione hired new head coaches for three of the school’s biggest programs — Brent Venables for football, Porter Moser for men’s basketball and Jennie Baranczyk for women’s basketball.
He also received approvals for several major projects, most notably Love’s Field for softball. And has several more on the docket, from a new basketball arena in Norman to renovations to L. Dale Mitchell to building a state-of-the-art football facility.
All of these moves likely would’ve happened at some point even if OU remained in the Big 12. But there’s no question that the SEC has fast-forwarded some of those projects. Certainly played a major factor in who Castiglione hired for those jobs, as well as for other openings in the athletic department.
OU has shown in its actions it doesn’t just want to compete in the SEC, but win. And that will be no easy task, they know this. That’s not a slight at the Big 12, which has been one of the premier conferences in collegiate athletics since its inception in 1995. But it’s clear the talent level for most sports in the SEC are a tier above the Big 12. That — and the money that will come with the move — is ultimately what led the Sooners to make this decision. The SEC has been at forefront of many changes in the college athletics, from NIL to the transfer portal. Everyone listens when the SEC has something to say. And Castiglione took notice of that when he made this decision in 2021.
That dominance is clear on the field. Even for sports OU has recently had success in, like football, basketball, gymnastics, baseball and, obviously, softball. The SEC is widely considered the best league in each of those sports.
Winning in the SEC won’t come easy. It hasn’t come easy for any program. But, as Castiglione said in Destin and has said for some time, the Sooners aren’t running from the challenges they now face.
OU has always been a winning program. And the Sooners don’t believe that will change on July 1.
“It’s what we seek,” Castiglione said. “We love the competition. And we know it’s not a ready-made situation at any point and time. Even if a certain sport on our campus are at the top right now, you always have to continue working on making it better. And if we’re at a place where we need to continue to grow and strengthen a program, we’ll do that too. It’s the competition. That’s what drives us in our world and you can do it with institutions that are fiercely competitive but in our experience, have been terrific to work with. And again, that’s what makes the culture of the SEC strong.”
The post Welcome to the SEC: Why OU AD Joe Castiglione believes his program is a ‘perfect fit’ in new conference appeared first on On3.
