Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione shares insight into reaction, timing of move to the SEC

Joe Castiglione shed some light on Wednesday about Oklahoma’s move to the SEC, and how it came out given Bob Bowlsby’s criticism from a Big 12 perspective.

Castiglione, the Oklahoma athletics director, said that the timing of the news, which first broke in the middle of SEC Media Days, was not what the Sooners had in mind, but once it was out there, the school needed a different kind of plan. And he understood the difficulty of how things evolved.

OU AD Joe Castiglione asked about Bob Bowlsby’s public criticism and the move to the SEC: “We didn’t have any plan to handle it that way. The timing was not of our choosing. … The rumors broke and it necessitated a different kind of plan.”

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) December 8, 2021

#Sooners AD Joe Castiglione on the bad feelings around OU’s exit to SEC: “I understand the difficulty of how things evolved. We didn’t have any plan to handle it that way. The timing was not of our choosing. When the rumors broke, it necessitated a different kind of plan.”

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) December 8, 2021

In October, Bowlsby gave an interview to the Tulsa World, and said his friendship with Castiglione has taken a major hit.

“Our first priority is to make sure that the coaches and the student-athletes have the fairest and best experience they can have going forward,” Bowlsby said. “And that’s just our professional responsibility to do that. Having said that, you know, Joe has been a longtime colleague and friend, and you know, we will work together because we have to. But friendships are based on trust. And I would say trust is at an all-time low.”