Greg McElroy praises stability of Joe Castiglione at Oklahoma

College football’s landscape is about to shift dramatically over the next two years with the Big 12’s newest additions hopping aboard in 2023 and the Big Ten and the SEC both about to add two major programs ahead of the 2024 season.

One thing that has not changed?

Oklahoma remains a powerhouse athletics program through multiple leagues and conference realignment. Credit athletics director Joe Castiglione, who has manned the Sooners ship since 1998.

“First of all, look at their athletic department as a whole,” ESPN analyst Greg McElroy said. “Hoops is good, softball is phenomenal. Football, down year last year, but for the most part it was a difficult circumstance for Brent Venables and Co. to step into.”

Not every season for every sport has been a massive success, but Oklahoma has been a power player in a lot of different sports, from the gridiron to gymnastics.

That was something McElroy pointed to in praising Joe Castiglione for the impact he’s had on the Oklahoma athletics program.

“You look at just the athletic department and the stability that Oklahoma’s had for the better part of the last 20-plus years,” McElroy said. “And all in large part due — Bob Stoops is gone, Lincoln Riley is gone, Brent Venables is in — and yet Oklahoma is still held in remarkably high regard.”

How Oklahoma will fare in the SEC remains to be seen, but if the program’s overall track record is any indication you can bet they’ll be just fine.

The current softball team is the favorite to win the national title over several quality SEC squads. The gymnastics program just won its second straight national title this year, doing so over the likes of two SEC programs. Those among other success stories.

To McElroy, all that is one of the reasons the SEC came calling.

“They’re held in such high regard that they became a very appealing candidate when the SEC decided to expand to 16 teams,” McElroy said. “Of course they took Texas, we talked about A&M a second ago, you’ve got 31 million people living in the Lone Star state. Well, Oklahoma was a natural fit to join Texas in that realignment.

“And I think a large part of it had to do with the stability that’s been created amongst many athletic departments by Joe Castiglione, the AD at Oklahoma.”