Names to know: Three early candidates to replace Joe Castiglione as Oklahoma’s Director of Athletics

With the stunning announcement that longtime Oklahoma Athletic Director Joe Castiglione will retire following the 2025 academic year, speculation is already swirling around who could be trusted to fill the massive shoes of one of the most respected and successful leaders in college sports.

Castiglione’s 27-year tenure brought unparalleled success to Norman, including 24 national championships, over 100 Big 12 titles, major facility upgrades, and the program’s pivotal transition to the SEC. His departure will leave a leadership vacuum at a time when collegiate athletics is navigating unprecedented change—NIL, the transfer portal, playoff expansion, and media rights chaos, to name a few.

Replacing him will require someone with vision, credibility, fundraising acumen, and a deep understanding of Oklahoma’s unique culture. While a national search will surely cast a wide net, early speculation has coalesced around three leading candidates—each with strong connections to OU, exceptional credentials, and rising national profiles.

Here are three names to watch as Oklahoma begins planning for a new era in its athletic department.

1. Zach Selmon
Current Role: Athletic Director, Mississippi State University
OU Connection: Former Deputy AD at Oklahoma (2015–2023)

If there’s a frontrunner out of the gate, it’s Zach Selmon, the dynamic young athletic director at Mississippi State and a former key member of Joe Castiglione’s leadership team. Selmon, 38, spent eight years in Norman and was widely regarded as a rising star within the department—trusted with strategic planning, external relations, student-athlete support, and football operations.

Selmon left OU in early 2023 to take the top job at Mississippi State, where he quickly established a reputation as a sharp communicator, aggressive fundraiser, and progressive thinker. He’s already led major facility planning efforts in Starkville and made bold hires, including in baseball and women’s basketball. His work in modernizing the Bulldogs’ NIL infrastructure and connecting with alumni has earned him praise in SEC circles.

More importantly, Selmon knows Oklahoma’s internal culture. He worked under Castiglione, understands the expectations of Sooner Nation, and already has deep relationships with key donors, coaches, and university administrators.

Many within the athletic department see Selmon as a natural successor—someone who combines youthful energy with institutional familiarity. He also checks the box on DEI representation, as the first African-American AD in MSU history and a strong voice for diversity in college athletics.

There’s one potential obstacle: he’s thriving at Mississippi State, and prying him away may take both timing and a compelling long-term vision. Still, if Selmon wants to return home to lead the program where he cut his teeth, the path may be wide open.

2. Wren Baker
Current Role: Athletic Director, West Virginia University
OU Connection: Oklahoma native and former staffer under Castiglione

Another name generating buzz is Wren Baker, the current athletic director at West Virginia, and a seasoned administrator with deep Oklahoma roots. Born and raised in Valliant, Oklahoma, and a graduate of Southeastern Oklahoma State, Baker got his early administrative experience under Castiglione at OU and has long been considered a “Castiglione disciple” in both leadership style and long-term vision.

Baker’s resume is extensive. Before WVU, he served as the athletic director at North Texas, where he hired multiple successful coaches, grew donor engagement, and helped lead the university into the American Athletic Conference. At West Virginia, he inherited a tumultuous situation and has worked to stabilize relationships with major donors and rebuild the athletic brand amid Big 12 turbulence.

What makes Baker especially appealing is his blend of Southern charm and business-minded discipline. He’s regarded as a skilled fundraiser, particularly adept at navigating media rights politics and NIL ecosystems. He also understands the nuances of running a flagship program in a football-first environment.

While his tenure at West Virginia is still young, Baker’s name has come up in multiple national searches and he may view OU as a “dream job” given his background. He would likely get strong support from influential university leaders and the broader Oklahoma alumni base.

If the Sooners want a proven leader with deep Sooner State ties and a strong national profile, Baker is a logical choice.

3. Allison Rich
Current Role: Athletic Director, Furman University
OU Connection: None, but rising star with strong leadership credentials and football savvy

While Oklahoma may lean toward in-house candidates or those with OU DNA, it’s also possible that the search committee, advised by Castiglione himself, could go in a bold and historic direction—enter Allison Rich, the trailblazing athletic director at Furman and a former high-ranking administrator at Stanford and Princeton.

Rich, a former All-American athlete with a law degree from Duke and a Ph.D. in education, has skyrocketed in the industry over the past decade. Known for her cerebral leadership style and commitment to athlete-centered reform, she is part of the new wave of administrators redefining how athletic departments approach mental health, student advocacy, and long-term sustainability.

But Rich is no outsider to big-time sports. At Stanford, she oversaw several national championship programs and worked closely with football operations. At Furman, she helped launch a transformative capital campaign and led the charge for gender equity and NIL education, earning recognition as one of the most forward-thinking ADs in the country.

Though she has no direct Oklahoma ties, her potential candidacy would signal OU’s intent to lead in the next generation of college sports, particularly in elevating women into major leadership roles. If hired, she would be the first woman to lead OU Athletics and among the few female athletic directors in the SEC.

Sources say her name has been floated internally as a candidate worth interviewing—particularly if the search committee broadens its scope to include high-ceiling leaders with national cachet and experience outside the traditional Big 12/SEC circles.

While Selmon, Baker, and Rich top most insider lists, a handful of wildcard names could emerge depending on how the process evolves:

• Shane Lyons: Former West Virginia AD with strong football ties and compliance experience.
• Desireé Reed-Francois: Missouri’s current AD and a respected administrator with SEC familiarity.
• Chris Del Conte: Texas AD with unmatched fundraising chops—but a highly unlikely crossover given the rivalry.
• Brandi Stuart: Deputy AD at Texas Tech and rising star in student-athlete development and program culture.

It’s also possible that Oklahoma could promote internally—especially if Castiglione remains involved as an advisor. Names like Kenny Mossman (Senior Associate AD, External Affairs) and David Boren Jr. (Board of Regents advisor) have long-standing OU ties and could factor into transitional planning.

OU president Joseph Harroz Jr. has made it clear that the search will be deliberate, values-driven, and competitive. With Castiglione staying through 2025, the university has time to conduct a national search without rushing.

A formal search committee is expected to be formed by early fall, potentially including university regents, key athletic donors, former coaches, and even Castiglione himself in an advisory capacity. Executive search firms with collegiate specialization may also be retained to handle outreach and vetting.

Harroz has stressed the importance of finding someone who can build upon Castiglione’s legacy while navigating modern challenges—especially SEC competition, NIL regulation, Title IX compliance, and media revenue forecasting.

The ideal candidate will need to balance tradition with transformation—a steward of OU’s past who can be an architect of its future.

Replacing Joe Castiglione will not be easy. He wasn’t just an athletic director—he was a culture-setter, a unifier, and the beating heart of Sooner athletics for nearly three decades. But the search to succeed him also presents a rare opportunity: to usher in a new era of leadership at a defining moment in college sports history.

Whether OU stays close to home with someone like Zach Selmon, returns to its roots with Wren Baker, or makes a visionary move with Allison Rich, one thing is certain: the stakes are high, and the eyes of the college sports world will be watching.

The next Director of Athletics won’t just manage teams. They’ll shape the identity of Oklahoma in the SEC, redefine the athlete experience, and carry forward a legacy forged in crimson and cream.

Boomer Sooner. The search begins.