Oklahoma athletic director search being run by Randall Stephenson defined as fascinating

Longtime Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione announced his retirement following the 2027-28 athletic calendar year earlier this week. The news came with an interesting mention that Randall Stephenson, a former AT&T CEO, will be spearheading the search for a new AD.

Stephenson’s will serve as a special adviser to the president and the director of athletics at Oklahoma, and it is a volunteer position. He is a private citizen, but all of a sudden is one of the most important members of the athletic department. It’s a situation that Sooner Scoop’s George Stoia III called “fascinating.”

“Randall is obviously a guy who comes from AT&T, was the chairman there, and very business oriented,” he said in an instant reaction to the news. “He has a pretty extensive sports background too, AT&T partnerships and things of that nature with major leagues and professional sports. But what is the direction that he wants to go in?”

One obvious candidate is Zac Selman, the current AD at Mississippi State. He’s a Norman-native, earned his MEd at OU and across two stints, has over a decade of experience in the Sooners’ athletic department. However, Stoia isn’t convinced Stephenson was placed in charge of the search if it was expected to be clear-cut.

“With Randall (Stephenson) being the guy leading the charge, you wonder, does does he take a different approach to this?” Stoia asked. “… Could he go to this business route where instead of maybe somebody that has an extensive background as an AD or in athletic department like a Zac Selman, do they go a different direction and hire somebody from professional sports, or a marketing or a businessman from outside of sports? I think that it’s going to be very interesting.”

This mindset reaffirms the shift toward a professional mindset across college athletics. Revenue sharing has been implemented following the historic House settlement, and athletic departments are having to adapt accordingly.

Bringing in someone with a background in finance, business or any other non-sports sector could be seen as a step toward building a modern athletic department in college athletics. However, while Castiglione will remain as head of OU’s athletic department until 2028, he will also have an advising role in the search for his eventual replacement alongside Stephenson.

For now, the Sooners will kick off the revenue sharing era with the 2025 college football season. Their schedule will feature a several tough matchups against Michigan, Auburn, Texas, South Carolina, Alabama and more.