Joe Castiglione stresses the importance of getting Oklahoma assistant coaches paid

It’s been a busy off-season for the Oklahoma Sooners athletic department as programs transition to the SEC and look to get ready for the conference. For athletic director Joe Castiglione, that’s included handing out several new contracts to coaches.

For Castiglione, getting those contracts with assistant coaches done and making sure they’re paid well is an important part of transitioning into the SEC.

“We are proactive about contracts as best as we can,” Joe Castiglione said. “We’re watching market. We’re certainly recognizing the performance of our coaches. The role that they play in leadership. The importance of not just talking about stability and the forward thinking and what our program wants to do in tracking toward future success but demonstrating it.”

Beyond the assistants, Castiglione also got contracts done with both head coaches for men’s basketball, Porter Moser, and football, Brent Venables. Both deals included salary increases for the head coaches in a move that is seemingly trying to promote stability.

“And I think our moving the contract for Coach Venables is a perfect example of that,” Castiglione said. “What he’s been doing since he’s been on-campus for two years and then, as we’re moving into a new league setting the foundation in the right place for us to be successful going forward and pursue championships — just like all the best teams are trying to do and the ones we’re competing against.”

Paying assistant coaches is part of bringing stability to a program. Brent Venables knows that, particularly from his time at Clemson where he was a well-paid defensive coordinator. It keeps coaches from leaving for a seemingly lateral move, making them hold off for clear promotions like what Jeff Lebby took at Mississippi State.

Joe Castiglione on Brent Venables extension: Oklahoma found creating stability ‘very important’

Following the contract extension with Brent Venables, Joe Castiglione explained just how important the stability that offers Oklahoma is going to be for the program.

“Well we’ve been working on strategies around the transition. You’ve heard the term SEC ready. I know there are things we’re going to continue to work on as we move through the membership of the SEC but setting certain things in place and creating stability going forward was important. And talking about the fact that it’s roughly nine days away, we’re going to start counting it in hours here pretty soon, but very, very excited to become the new member of the SEC on July 1st,” Castiglione said.

“Well we’re proactive about contracts as best as we can. And we we’re watching market, we’re certainly recognizing the performance of our coaches, the role that they play in leadership, the importance of not just talking about stability and the forward thinking and what our program wants to do in tracking toward future success, but demonstrating it. And I think our move in the contract for Coach Venables is a perfect example of that, what he’s been doing since he’s been on campus for two years and as we’re moving into a new league and setting the foundation in a right place for us to be successful going forward and pursue championships, just like all the best teams are trying to do and the ones we’re competing against.”