Castiglione must go!

[UtahSooner83]

He got us into this mess. First by hiring rent, and secondly, by giving him the staggering buyout. We can’t afford to continuing this on this present course. He made one really great hire. The only really great hiring is made since then was maybe our women’s gymnastics coach.

[Up North Sooner]

He got us into this mess. First by hiring rent, and secondly, by giving him the staggering buyout. We can’t afford to continuing this on this present course. He made one really great hire. The only really great hiring is made since then was maybe our women’s gymnastics coach.

Have a Snickers and calm down

[UtahSooner83]

I was one of those guys back in the late 90s that was saying give John Blake another year. I was wrong. Back in the original chat room in those days, there was a guy who called himself Goat. He was railing about Blake and we all defended Blake and he was the right one and we were the wrong one. Joe has been here 25+ years. What is he done after hiring Stoops? Yeah he made a good hire in women’s gymnastics. He gave Brent this outrageously high buyout that has screwed us and will send us into a tailspin the likes of Nebraska.

[Up North Sooner]

I was one of those guys back in the late 90s that was saying give John Blake another year. I was wrong. Back in the original chat room in those days, there was a guy who called himself Goat. He was railing about Blake and we all defended Blake and he was the right one and we were the wrong one. Joe has been here 25+ years. What is he done after hiring Stoops? Yeah he made a good hire in women’s gymnastics. He gave Brent this outrageously high buyout that has screwed us and will send us into a tailspin the likes of Nebraska.

I lived through that as well. It sucked, but it was an entire other level of sucakage than what this is. Back then we had the Jimmys and Joes, we just had a staff who didn't know how to use them. Look what happened when Stoops rearranged the pieces on the chessboard.

We have been rocked this season with injuries, I dare say more injuries to starters and important contributors than any other team in college football. In addition to that we have a QB who is not who he was hyped up to be coming out of high school. He seems to be a good kid, and has the physical tools needed to be a good QB, but from what I can see the mental part of his game is lacking, and I'm not sure that can ever be coached up. He makes slow decisions, far too slow for the speed of the game, and then the decisions he makes are about 80% poor ones. Again, good kid, but not a good QB. So couple that with the injuries we have, and you are going to struggle. I'm also still of the opinion that this team has been rebuilding due to the lack of depth caused by Riley, and then his departure. Why is the cupboard a bit bare? Multiple reasons I think, not the least of which is that it seemed the OU Compliance Office was not prepared for NIL and as a result hurt us for at least one, if not two, recruiting classes.

Castiglione has done a great job in his time at OU. To blame him for this season is foolish. The same can be said for blaming Brent for all of this. Has he made mistakes, yes, most notable in hiring Littrell as the OC, but that has been adjusted for, and I believe will be corrected in the offseason. I do think some of the other assistants need to go as well, and have a feeling they will. We all love Demarco, but I think his decisions on who to play at RB are hurting us. I'm not sure why since he should know better than most anyone who has the most talent, and also the most "want to." It just seems he is making poor decisions about who to start and play for some reason. Is that all his decision, or is he being told who to play by someone else? That is something I would like to know, but at the moment I'm thinking he is hurting us more than he is helping us, so it might be time to move on. I'm also not sure what to think of our WR coaching, but I'm willing to give Jones a pass due to the injuries there. It just seems to me the guys we have been putting on the field don't know how to get seperation. Again though, too many injuries to judge the coaching there. Bedenbaugh, man I don't know. He has been a great OL coach, but this year has been beyond pathetic. There were a lot of injuries there as we all know, so I'm willing to give him a bit of a pass, but then I think about the whiffs on bringing transfer players in, and how his evaluation of the talent in the pool doesn't seem to be there. Has the game passed him by? I don't know, but his talent eval really hurt us this year, but maybe he still has his coaching chops and is just hampered by the poor level of talent behind our starters. Valai and Hall are other coaches that I think might need to be shown the door. Our DB's always seem lost, and that is on them.

In the end I'm just not ready to throw everything in the trash and light it on fire. We have been snakebitten this season with injuries, so that needs to be taken into account before any discussion about our staff. Do I think we need some tweaks to the staff other than bringing in a new OC? I do. However I don't think we need to be starting over, and we especially don't need to be dumping the best AD in the game.

[Soonerbuffalo]

Agreed Utahsooner. The contract and extension are ridiculous. There are ceos of large companies who don’t get anywhere near that kind of buyout.

OU is a great job and you don’t need to give away the farm to find a good coach.

Joe has done a good job on many hires and I’m thankful for what he has done. The most important thing you have to get right is foosball coach and he has not done that. Time for some new blood. Preferably someone from Oklahoma.

[OU Chinaman]

...I heard (rumor control) that Joe C wanted to hire Dan Lanning, but that some former players and big donors pressed him to hire Venables.
True or not, at this juncture if it was, would indicate JOE C was correct.

[AllSooner]

Up North Sooner, along with injuries, not-so-good decisions in player and coach selections, you need to add the effects of NIL. OU has not put a priority on the "bidding" process......maybe because they can't since a lot of the NIL is obtained thru the big donors. Maybe we have learned our lesson, but to catch up will be a challenge. I'm hoping that the youngsters from this year will surprise us next year. Plus, I have my hopes that BV will hire an exceptional OC who just might have a good QB he can bring with him. I don't think the Sooner Fans will last thru another year like this one.

[cushcreekmont]

Either the pres is holding him back (doubtful) or Castiglione is just unwilling to play and pay NIL. Giving raises and extensions was a huge error, but the only hope for OU is an AD that will buy players at the rate of Oregon, Aggie, texsa, Alabama, let alone Missouri, Mississippi and that ilk.

[Soonerbuffalo]

The Indiana coach is one example of someone who is winning without the resources that we have.

Money has to be there but it doesn’t pan out without a good coach and players willing to play for more than just the money.

I don’t know that we have the kind of info to show us how we stack up on spend but I think we would be right up there. I don’t believe we have a money issue art OU.

We may be heading to one though.

[SoonerTony]

The decision to extend Venables contract after only 1 decent season - decent, not great - may end up setting this program back for many years. There was never any danger that another school was going to come steal BV away from us. It was a monumentally stupid decision.

[Bixby_Sooner]

He got us into this mess. First by hiring rent, and secondly, by giving him the staggering buyout. We can’t afford to continuing this on this present course. He made one really great hire. The only really great hiring is made since then was maybe our women’s gymnastics coach.

I am guessing with the exception of Coach Kindler which you reference above, you must not have heard that he also has hired the current WBB Coach Jennie Baranczyk, and her predecessor Sherri Coale, then there's Ryan Hybl and a fellow by the name of Bob Stoops, to name a few others.

[OldTimer]

Up North Sooner, along with injuries, not-so-good decisions in player and coach selections, you need to add the effects of NIL. OU has not put a priority on the "bidding" process......maybe because they can't since a lot of the NIL is obtained thru the big donors. Maybe we have learned our lesson, but to catch up will be a challenge. I'm hoping that the youngsters from this year will surprise us next year. Plus, I have my hopes that BV will hire an exceptional OC who just might have a good QB he can bring with him. I don't think the Sooner Fans will last thru another year like this one.

I’m thinking you are assuming too much to think that our better young players are going to stick. I think there is going to be a mass exit to the portal and our 2025 class is going to fall completely apart.

[pippen]

I’m thinking you are assuming too much to think that our better young players are going to stick. I think there is going to be a mass exit to the portal and our 2025 class is going to fall completely apart.

If that happens, it will be a death-knell.

[WishBone]

I personally think some are selling Joe C way to Short??To say "what has he done besides........"What about the Baseball team (Played for Natty 2 yrs ago?)"What about the Golf Team( ranked#1 at times recently?)""What about the Great Womens BB hire?"What about all the BS that goes and has been ongoing to join the SEC in which by the way "Most" were excited about and in favor of I believe."So I as someone else stated :Slow Down " and take a Deep Breath.Releasing Joe C would be a HUGE mistake !!We all got what we wanted an to think we would come into the SEC w/New Coach and Staff and Dominate from Day 1 ..........NO!....I was on that Train also.But Im not boarding this one to Dump Joe C,one of the best in the country ,thus his Tenure.

[JoeSooner]

I don't think there's going to be a mass exodus or the class will fall apart. Players come and go for playing time and/or money more than freaking out about wins and losses, like we do. Particularly if we hire a decent OC. There will however continue to be mass panic among the fan base.