Oklahoma’s Joe Castiglione, who has guided the Sooners’ sports operations since 1998, will retire from his full-time role during the upcoming school year, the university announced on Monday.
Castiglione’s retirement will end the longest current tenure for an athletic director in major college sports.
Castiglione, 67, plans to stay on as athletic director emeritus following the hiring of his successor. A news conference is scheduled for Tuesday morning to officially make the announcement. University president Joseph Harroz Jr., in a letter to the OU community, said Castiglione’s retirement date is June 30, 2028, making for 30 years, according to a report from KWTV-News 9 in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma has captured 26 national championships and 117 league titles during his 27 years in Norman, which included the transition from the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference.
Castiglione was named the athletic director of the year by Sports Business Journal in 2009 and shared the award in 2018. The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics named him its top AD in 2000 and 2018.
The Sooners won a national championship in football in 2000 and reached the men’s basketball Final Four in 2002 and 2016. The softball program has captured eight national titles since 2000, and the women’s basketball team made the Final Four in 2002, 2009 and 2010.
Including his five years as the AD at Missouri before taking over at OU, a total of 32 of his former employees have gone on to become athletic directors or commissioners, per ESPN.