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SUITING UP SIANDHARA BONNET/THE DAILY
Joe Castiglione Jr., son of athletic director Joe Castiglione, is a walk-on for the Sooners as a fullback. The sophomore was previously a student assistant for the team.
Son of athletic director prepares to walk on to football team
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hen the Sooner faithful look down on Owen Field this fall, they will find a familiar name emblazoned on the back of a crimson and cream jersey: Castiglione. Joe Castiglione Jr., who was previously a student assistant under linebackers coach Tim Kish, is trading in his clipboard for a helmet, pads and a shot at fulfilling his dream. “If you told me a year ago that I would be walking on the team right now, there would be no way,” said Castiglione Jr., who is the son of OU athletic director Joe Castiglione. “It was about last August going into fall camp right before school started. I just started thinking I really regretted not trying to walk on my freshman year, and I was like, ‘What’s holding me back from that?’” Castiglione Jr. played on both sides of the ball at Mount Saint Mary High School, a Catholic school in Oklahoma City. At the end of his senior year, he received an offer from Oklahoma Baptist University to play football, giving him a choice: Play football at the next level or go to a big school and give up his dream. “I knew ever since I was young that I wanted to play football in college one way or the other, so it was hard to choose against that,” Castiglione Jr. said. “Going to OU was just too hard to pass up.” Castiglione Jr.’s decision seems natural with his close connection to Oklahoma athletics. Despite this connection, Castiglione Jr.
KELLI STACY • @ASTACYKELLI
said the choice to come to OU was all his own. “My dad really gave me the opportunity to go to any school within reason that I wanted to, and I looked at a lot of other big D1 schools for academics, but it came down to this was the place I needed to be,” he said. “He asked me a lot of questions like, ‘Are you sure about this?’ I had zero pressure from him to come here. It was more of my decision, which was awesome.” In August, Castiglione Jr. realized he might be able to have the best of both worlds. He began working out and eating healthier to get back into shape, all the while telling no one of his plan. Around November, Castiglione Jr. started telling people what he planned to do. He talked to Kish and other coaches, then-director of player personnel Drew Hill, and made his intentions official. He joined the team and strength coach Jerry Schmidt at the start of winter workouts after the Sooners’ 35-19 Sugar Bowl win in January. “It’s been a lot of fun,” said Castiglione Jr., who lives with walk-on quarterback Connor McGinnis. “I can tell you that the team is really welcoming, and a lot of the players were really excited when I decided to do this and supported me throughout winter workouts. It’s a big transition physically from personal workouts to going through Schmidt’s strength program, but I’ve really enjoyed the process, and it’s just been a lot of growing. I know that, instead of being discouraged, it’s
just growth for the future.” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops praised Castiglione Jr. for his work ethic as a student assistant, saying he went above and beyond, staying late into the night to help out and learn, and that he’s supportive of his decision to join the team. “He came to me after the bowl game and said he wanted to, he wanted to try playing,” Stoops said. “He wanted to be out there on the team and participating, and I said, ‘Hey if that’s what you want to do, more power to you. We’ll support you.’”
didn’t have any pressure for this because no one told me to do it, it was all me. So after he was sure it was what I wanted, he was really supportive.” Castiglione remembers the conversation vividly, as he was once again surprised by his son. “I got a call late one afternoon and he just said, ‘Hi dad,’ and it was one of those ones where you know something is going on,” Castiglione said. “I’m thinking ‘Uh oh, what’s happened? Everything going all right? Are you doing all right in school?’”
“I knew ever since I was young that I wanted to play football in college one way or the other, so it was hard to choose against that.” JOE CASTIGLIONE JR., SPORTS MANAGEMENT SOPHOMORE Stoops said that Castiglione Jr. fits in well with the team, adding that he’s the first student assistant to walk on in Stoops’ 19-year tenure at Oklahoma. Castiglione Jr. said that his dad was extremely supportive of his decision. “He was really happy to say the least, but he was also asking me if I was sure that this is what I wanted to do and asking my reasoning behind it,” Castiglione Jr. said. “He really wanted to make sure that this is what I wanted to do, and I
The two met for dinner, and Castiglione Jr. told his dad that he planned to join the team. Castiglione said he knew his son missed football, but Castiglione Jr. was enjoying the student assistant position so much that his dad hadn’t thought he was considering this. His main concern was making sure his son was making the choice for the right reasons. “It doesn’t mean that there’s any kind of questioning of your passion, just make sure you’ve thought it all the way through,”
Castiglione said. “If there’s an opportunity for you to do this, you want to go after it with all you can. Don’t go into it half-hearted. “And he was and has been completely locked in. My guess is that’s part of why he wanted to take certain steps to tell people at certain times, because he wanted to be absolutely sure. I give him a great deal of credit for that because it shows he’s thinking everything through.” Castiglione knows what his son is going through, because he went through the walk-on process himself at Maryland. He was a walk-on defensive back for a year and then helped out in the athletic department as a way to stay involved. Castiglione Jr. might just follow in his father’s footsteps down the road as he pursues a sports management degree. He said he’s considered the possibility of becoming an athletic director but is keeping his mind open to other options. “I definitely want to go into college athletics in some aspect,” he said. “When I was a student assistant, I really thought about going into college football coaching because I really got to see behind the doors of that, so either that or going into athletic administration like my father.” Kelli Stacy
kelliastacy@ou.edu
Boren recovers from heart bypass surgery OU president to work from home temporarily following hospital stay STAFF REPORTS
OU President David Boren is resting after successfully undergoing heart bypass surgery Monday morning. Boren will be in the hospital for a week and will work from home for a few days before returning to work on campus, similar to his 2005 recovery from
back surgery, according to an OU News press release. “ There is a ver y talented team at OU who will conduct routine business without interruption while I am recuperating. I will continue to provide supervision and direction. I appreciate all of the encouraging messages which I have received,” Boren said in the release. An interim president was not appointed during Boren’s recovery time, as he has continued to serve in his position, OU
press secretary Matt Epting said in an email. B oren w ill not attend the Thursday President’s Associates dinner, Epting said in the email. J.D. Vance, author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” will speak at the dinner. The Daily inquired Tuesday about Boren’s general health, which hospital he is staying in and whether the surgery was planned, and Epting declined to comment. Staff Reports
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NOOR EEMAAN/THE DAILY
OU President David Boren at a Board of Regents meeting Jan. 26. Boren had a successful heart surgery March 20.