Over the last 32 years, Joe Castiglione has turned into one of the most influential athletic directors in all of college sports. After six years as Missouri's AD and 26 years with the Oklahoma Sooners, Castiglione has decided to step back from his current full-time role.
You know the old saying, "With great power comes great responsibility." Well, that couldn't apply more than it has to Castiglione's career.
From 1998 through 2018, his first two decades at Oklahoma, he watched his football program secure 10 Big 12 titles, victories in all four BCS Championship games (2001 Orange Bowl, 2003 Rose Bowl, 2004 Sugar Bowl, and 2007 Fiesta Bowl), and four Heisman Trophy winners (Jason White 2003, Sam Bradford 2008, Baker Mayfield 2017, and Kyler Murray 2018).
Not to mention the fact that nearly three dozen of his former staff members (both from Oklahoma and Missouri) have gone on to become athletic directors or commissioners of their own.
While the Sooners quickly evolved into one of the dominant athletic programs in the country under Castiglione's guise, it didn't come without controversy.
Here's the full @espn story on the upcoming retirement of Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione, one of the giants of the industry. In his time at Oklahoma and Missouri, 32 of Castiglione's employees have gone on to become athletic directors or commissioners. https://t.co/bj41pRNrXO
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) July 7, 2025
During his three-decades-long career as an athletic director, Castiglione presided over programs that experienced some of the most controversial calls in college sports history.
Fifth Down Game (1990):
When Castiglione's Missouri Tigers played the Colorado Buffaloes in 1990, something that had never been allowed in the sport of football took place.
The Buffs were allowed five downs from inside the 3-yard line and beat Missouri 33-31. Colorado quarterback Charles Johnson spiked the ball on fourth-and-goal to stop the clock (the down marker said it was third down), and then the Buffaloes scored on a fifth-down keeper.
Colorado went on to win the unclaimed AP national title that season. Castiglione was still just an associate athletic director at Missouri when the game happened.
The Immaculate Deflection (1997):
With 12 seconds remaining, in the matchup between top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Missouri Tigers, Nebraska faced a 3rd-&-10 at the Missouri 12-yard line.
Cornhuskers quarterback Scott Frost threw a pass to Shevin Wiggins, but the ball was knocked loose by Missouri defensive back Julian Jones. Before the ball hit the ground, Wiggins (whether he meant to or not is still up for debate) kicked the ball into the air, and his teammate Matt Davison caught it for a touchdown.
Nebraska kicked the extra point to tie the score and went on to win in overtime. A player cannot intentionally kick a ball to complete a catch. Castiglione was Missouri's athletic director at the time
Oklahoma-Texas Tech (2005):
In a regular-season matchup between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Oklahoma Sooners, Texas Tech running back Taurean Henderson was awarded a game-winning touchdown on the final play against the Sooners.
A reverse angle, which was not available to game officials at the time, showed Henderson was down before the ball ever crossed the goal line, meaning Oklahoma should have walked away victorious. Castiglione was in his seventh year as the Sooners' athletic director.
Oklahoma-Oregon (2006):
When the Oklahoma Sooners visited the Oregon Ducks in Eugene, the game came down to the wire, and the Ducks attempted an onside kick, which looked like it worked. That was until people noticed that Oregon’s Brian Paysinger touched his team’s onside kick before it traveled 10 yards.
Even though officials reviewed the play, the call wasn't overturned, and Oregon rallied from a 13-point deficit to defeat the Sooners. A few weeks later, the Pac-10 suspended the officiating crew that had made the call in the matchup.