Oklahoma President Joe Harroz Hints at Joe Castiglione Statue in Near Future

A quick stroll around Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium will introduce you to some of the Sooners’ most notable legends.

From the busts of seven OU’s Heisman winners in Heisman Park east of the stadium to the coach statues of Barry Switzer, Bud Wilkinson, Bob Stoops and Bennie Owen scattered across it, Sooner fans can relive some of the program’s best moments simply by walking around the complex.

OU athletic director Joe Castiglione will likely be joining the commemorated Sooner greats around the stadium soon.

Castiglione — OU’s athletic director since 1998 — formally announced his retirement on Tuesday. He revealed that he’ll hold the position until July 30, when he’ll transition to athletic director emeritus duties.

Oklahoma president Joe Harroz was asked about whether or not Castiglione would be joining other Sooner greats with his own statue.

“Eventually, there'll be more news on this front,” Castiglione said. “There is going to be an honor. It will likely be in bronze, and we'll address that at a later time. It is important, and you've got to recognize those great leaders.”

Harroz was hesitant to provide details about Castiglione’s statue, but it’s evident that he’ll be getting one in the near future.

“There will be celebrations to come, which I hope you will attend, and we're properly recognizing Joe's contributions,” Harroz said.

During Castiglione’s tenure as Oklahoma’s athletic director, the Sooners won 26 national championships across five sports — more than 57% of OU’s national titles in the school’s history.

When Castiglione arrived in 1998, the Sooners had a budget of around $23 millions. Under Castiglione’s leadership, that budget is now close to $235 million.

Castiglione was also instrumental in Oklahoma’s move to the Southeastern Conference, which became official on July 1, 2024. Not only did Castiglione consider the move, he acted on it — and Harroz said that’s an example of what sets him apart from other athletic administrators.

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“When we look back at Sooner athletics history, one of the most important moves strategically that we will see was when Joe Castiglione came to me when I came into this job six years ago and said we have got to make a move, either to the SEC or the Big Ten, then laid out the case for the move to the SEC,” Harroz said. “With that counsel and direction, we and Texas became first movers. That is the most recent example of the kind of foresight and vision you need as an athletic director to navigate a rapid disruption.”

Despite achieving so much during his 26 years at Oklahoma, Castiglione doesn’t like to take the credit.

The athletic director, though flattered, seemingly blushed when Harroz received the question about a statue in his honor.

“I appreciate moments like this where the recognition is coming my way, but you know why I appreciate it the most? It’s because it’s recognizing everybody else that helped make a moment like this possible,” Castiglione said. “Whoever is here and those that came before them — they’re the reason any AD gets any accolade. Not the AD themself.

“So if you want to see the people that do it best, look for the success in the others. And then their success means that the person that was in that role to play that point position to help them be successful, they were doing the right job. So for me, it’s just being able to celebrate other people’s success.”