There is no athletic director who is more well-versed in navigating the politics and peculiarities of an American college campus than Joe Castiglione. His entire adult life has been wired to the rhythms of a university academic calendar, having spent 45 years in athletic administration, the last 27 of them as the AD at Oklahoma. “Joe C,” as he’s known, is a very successful product of a very traditional system—and perhaps the last of his kind.
When the Sooners welcome Michigan on Saturday to the “Palace on the Prairie,” as Oklahoma’s Memorial Stadium is known, it will be the last major nonconference home game of Castiglione’s career. (“Took me 12 years and three different Michigan athletic directors to get the series done,” he cracks.) The search is on for the 67-year-old’s replacement, and it’s a near-certainty that his successor will come from a dramatically different background. A campus lifer will be replaced by someone who wouldn’t know the provost from a pipe-fitter.
