Joe Castiglione retirement: Bob Stoops voices disinterest in taking Sooners AD job

Joe Castiglione is retiring as the Oklahoma athletic director, leaving one of the top jobs in college athletics open. A wide search is expected to take place but names have already begun to be linked. One of those is legendary football coach Bob Stoops, who is currently coaching in the UFL.

Well, if any Sooners were hoping Stoops would take the job, the dream is quickly over. Stoops voiced a strong disinterest in being the next Oklahoma AD. If there were any job in college sports he would take, it would be back in the coaching ranks.

“Oh no, no, no, no,” Stoops said via Carey Murdock of On3’s Sooner Scoop. “If I wanted another job I’d be a head coach again. At a university or somewhere. No, no. That job would never have been for me.”

Despite stepping down as the OU head coach in 2016, Stoops has remained actively involved with the program. He even became the interim head coach back in 2021 for the Alamo Bowl against Oregon after Lincoln Riley announced his departure for USC. Stoops is one of the all-time favorites in Norman — it’s easy to see why some would want him to become the athletic director.

As for the line from Stoops about only wanting to coach, he says the phone is still ringing. He is not totally out of the game with the Arlington Renegades, finishing this past season with a 5-5 record.

“So that discussion can just stop happening around the water cooler,” Murdock said via X. “And Bob said people still call him asking him if he’d be [interested] in taking a coaching job.”

More on Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione retiring

Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione will retire from his full-time role during the upcoming school year, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Castiglione has been Oklahoma’s athletic director since 1998.

“Castiglione, 67, initiated the conversation about his retirement with school officials nearly a month ago, per sources, and they landed on this plan together,” Thamel wrote on X. “It allows OU to search for his replacement this year and aid a smooth transition… The timing of the move will allow OU to make a hire in the upcoming months and transition with Castiglione on campus.”

Despite Castiglione’s decision to step down from his full-time role as athletic director, he’ll still be involved with the school’s decision-making. When Oklahoma hires a new AD, Castiglione will serve as the school’s athletic director emeritus.

On3’s Grant Grubbs contributed to this report