Outlining a timeline for Joe Castiglione's retirement following SEC transition

Oklahoma is now an official member of the SEC as July 1 marked the momentous completion of a multi-year process to move the Sooners east.

This was the end of a pretty massive project for Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione. So, now that he’s completed his grand move, is there an expectation the 66-year-old AD could start considering a smooth transition into retirement?

On Monday morning’s On3 YouTube live-stream with Andy Staples, he brought on George Stoia and Eddie Radosevich of Sooner Scoop to talk all things OU post-transition. But one interesting topic brought up by Stoia is his expectation that Castiglione may not be too long for this job.

First, Stoia noted his stature in the college sports world.

“Joe Castiglione, obviously he’s somebody that’s very well-respected, not only in the SEC, but in all of college athletics,” he commented, going on to say that Castiglione was guy who had to lead Oklahoma into a new frontier.

“For him, I think that he’s the perfect guy to lead Oklahoma into this,” Stoia continued. But now that the grand plan has ben achieved, what’s left for Castiglione in the long term?

“There’s been a lot of talk about ‘When is Joe C going to retire?'” says Stoida. “He’s been doing this for so long.”

However, Stoia doesn’t foresee the Oklahoma AD calling it quits in the immediate future, although he thinks the horizon line is inching closer on Castiglione’s career.

“I think he’s definitely going to see this thing through for several years and wants to make sure that Oklahoma is in the right spot before he steps away.”

Castiglione, Chris Del Conte worked together on move

The Sooner Scoop guys also noted that this transition of Texas and Oklahoma into the SEC perhaps wouldn’t have been possible if not for the cooperation of rival ADs and coaches.

“I do think there is a respect level between the two administrations, whether it be CDC and Joe Castiglione or all the way down maybe even to Brent Venables and Steve Sarkisian,” Eddie Radosevich said.

“I think that they’ve been pretty hand-in-hand in working together on making this move,” added Stoia.

Sometimes, working with the enemy can produce the best possible result for both sides, which for OU and Texas, was getting into the SEC. of course, when the two sides meet in the Red River Showdown in a few months, any talk of friendliness between the programs will be shut down.