There was nothing normal about Oklahoma's search for its next athletic director before finally hiring Roger Denny, but that's because this a time unlike any other in college athletics, so average wouldn't cut it.
Denny was a surprise hire when OU announced the decision on Friday that Denny would replace the retiring Joe Castiglione to be the Sooners' 12th AD after a search that started in July. After a weekend of fans questioning the move, Randall Stephenson, who led the search committee as Chair of Football and Advisor to the President and the Director of Athletics, shared more insight on Monday on how OU landed on such an off-the-wall hire. And it seems the hire was going to be unique no matter who it was.
OU considered every background before choosing Roger Denny as AD
“We had media executives. We had professional sports executives, talent executives," Stephenson told News9 of the search. "Where we landed, we believe, is kind of a modern era prototype for a sports executive."
Stanford was one of the most recent major universities that had to hire a new AD and went with John Donahoe, who was a former CEO of Nike and eBay with no prior experience in college athletics. OU basically found ground somewhere in the middle with its hire, but clearly looked at every possibility. However, Stephenson, who is the former CEO of AT&T, will still stay with the athletic department in his same role.
The new age of college athletics has forced universities to think outside of the box with football programs now having front offices, athletes getting paid, coaching contracts reaching insane figures and more in an ever-changing business. When it comes to actual experience as an AD in this era, it doesn't really exist anymore considering it's constantly changing and has never been this way before.
Denny had been at Illinois since 2021 as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director. He was the right-hand man to Illinois AD Josh Whitman while leading the football program and overseeing all athletics’ business operations, among other things. However, Denny's 15 years as an attorney before getting into college athletics was apparently what really stood out to OU.
If anything, Denny's lack of specific experience made him even better equipped to lead an athletic department in 2026 and beyond. Denny got into college athletics in 2021. By then, Name, Image and Likeness had already become a daily part of college sports overnight. That means Denny only knows college athletics in its modern form. He didn't have to adapt from decades of something completely different.
“I showed up at Illinois about a week after NIL became legal," Denny told media Monday. "We talk about all this change in sports. To me, it’s the only way I’ve ever known it."