Oklahoma's Joe Castiglione: Realignment 'most tumultuous time' college sports has ever seen

For Joe Castiglione, upheaval in college athletics is not a fad.

Now in his 26th year as Oklahoma’s athletic director, he started his job in April 1998. He took a gamble on a young defensive coordinator named Bob Stoops in 1999. For a minute, Texas and Oklahoma were on course to join the Pac-12 in 2011 until commissioner Larry Scott decided not to make the move.

But this latest round of conference realignment – one that started two summers ago when the SEC added the Sooners and Longhorns – has left Castiglione, a highly respected college sports leader, humbled.

The Big 12 welcomed Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah. The Pac-12, a 108-year-old conference, is down to two schools after the ACC presidents welcomed Stanford, Cal and SMU.

“It’s the churn and disruption in our entire space of intercollegiate athletics that has been going on for quite some time,” he recently told On3. “The idea that realignment presented itself in the last few years shouldn’t be a shock to people who were truly paying attention. That being said, the way some of it has evolved has been stunning.

“There’s just a real difficulty now trying to navigate this period of time. I don’t think anybody would dispute that this is the most tumultuous time that college athletics has ever experienced that we’re not done with.”

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What exactly comes next? This latest round of reshuffling was led by TV dollars. While the Pac-12 never had a lucrative offer for its members, the Big 12 was able to pay in the $30 million range.

Money has driven the sport since the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma v. NCAA case. The NCAA had monopolized the TV market, limiting schools’ appearances on TV. Now the Big Ten has a contract set to pay the league $1 billion annually.

Joe Castiglione is not giving up, though. The veteran athletic director believes it’s time to craft a model that can last another 100 years.

“The best thing we can continue to do is have the best thought leaders at the table to understand the changes that have taken place to try to chart the best course forward and to create the model that is going to best represent the rest of the 21st century,” he said. “That has all sorts of complexities attached to it. But we’ve got to continue to be bold in creating a strategy going forward.”

He isn’t quite sure what that model look like, though.

Name, image and likeness has created more opportunities for college athletes than ever before. Now players can star in endorsement deals while competing at Oklahoma. It also means they have to deal with taxes and time management, but that isn’t something Castiglione is worried about.

On a macro level, the athletic director wants to ensure athletes remain the focus of college sports. While the transfer portal has created more roster turnover in the last two seasons than ever before, the reason why he continues to love his job is serving the college-aged athlete.

Revenue sharing appears to be in the cards. How the structure shakes out is unknown. Models have been released including collectives, while conference commissioners have pushed back against that idea. Oklahoma recently formed an athlete services division with Altius, which will include an athlete revenue analyst, focused on analyzing and identifying revenue streams for athletes.

Castiglione wants to assist athletes, not actively work against them.

“I think that we got to continue to keep our North Star, if you will, in front of us,” he said. “We have something so special and so unique to American culture. And it’s a really, really great opportunity thousands of people experience. We just have to be innovative and creative when shaping the new model. We’re not going back to the old model, as much as some want to wish it. We’ve got to get our minds around what what is the most plausible and achievable model for college athletics to not just exist, but continue to thrive.

“That the athletes are part of the opportunity and solution. Anybody that writes they’re part of the problem is missing the boat. They are part of the solution and the opportunity for college athletics to continue to thrive, as candidly as they always have been. It’s just now the model has changed, right?”

Castiglione still supports CFP expansion

This summer’s latest round of realignment brought real conversations on what the future of the College Football Playoff should look like. With two teams hanging on in the 108-year-old Pac-12 — Oregon State and Washington State — commissioners and athletic directors are starting to talk through how automatic bids should be dispersed.

Remember, the 12-team tournament begins in 2024. Currently, the format calls for six automatic qualifiers – the six highest-ranked conference champions – would join six at-large teams.

CFP conference commissioners gathered in Irving, Texas, last month for the first time since realignment. The group deferred making any decisions. CFP executive director Bill Hancock cited the want for the final realignment dominoes to settle.

The popular substitute for six and six is a 5+7 format. The automatic qualifiers would drop from six to five, allowing the at-large number to grow. This would mean the five-highest-ranked conference champions would earn automatic qualifiers and guarantee a Group of 5 champion earns entry to the CFP.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has openly discussed a best of 12 structure, with no automatic qualifiers.

Castiglione isn’t ready to publicly support either until there is some finality to the Pac-12’s collapse. He remains adamant the College Football Playoff expands.

“I don’t want to get into whether it’s six or six per se,” he said. “Who knows if the Pac-12 stays alive but with a number of different teams. I don’t really know what that all means yet. If you’re asking me if I still believe in the 12-team playoff, absolutely. I think the commissioners will do their very best to create a structure that’s great for college football and also helps identify the 12 best teams.”