By Clay Horning
The Norman Transcript
June 23, 2009 01:04 am
—
Chances are Joe Castiglione is no gambler by nature. Likely, he’s too sure of himself to think of it in those terms. But you can only imagine what it looks like from the outside in.
Hand Oklahoma football over to a young assistant who’s never been a head coach? Or Sooner basketball over to a guy who’d just failed to reach the NCAA Tournament?
At his best, it’s not like Oklahoma’s athletic director goes against the grain. Instead, it’s a willingness not to cover his backside that sets him apart.
At his best, he finds the coach he wants, makes the hire and gets out of the way.
It gave us Kalani Mahi and Scott Evans, but also Bob Stoops and Jeff Capel.
Good for Castiglione, the Sooner nation doesn’t live and die on the volleyball court or soccer pitch.
Monday, it brought Ryan Hybl as the new OU men’s golf coach. He is the second less famous brother the Sooners have hired in a week.
Only Saturday, OU hired John Roddick, brother of Andy, to take over men’s tennis. Ryan is the brother of Nate, the underrated Sooner quarterback who last led OU to a BCS victory at the 2003 Rose Bowl.
A Georgia assistant until Monday, Hybl’s been part of a Bulldog coaching staff that’s guided its program to five straight top 10 finishes at the NCAA Championship, a pair of SEC crowns in 2006 and this year and an NCAA East Regional championship last year.
As a player, Hybl was the No. 1 junior golfer in the nation when he committed to Georgia. At Georgia, he was a two-time All-American.
He’ll be taking over where Jim Ragan, who never did much with the Sooner program beyond recruiting Anthony Kim and one out-of-nowhere Big 12 tournament victory, left off.
“There is so much support and history here. The facilities are great. You have what you need to be successful,” Hybl said upon his hiring. “I am coming from a program that has won national and conference championships and the vision here can be the same.”
As great as that kind of excitement sounds, the better news may be Hybl fits the profile of Castiglione’s very best hires.
Young, passionate, and without a resume that screams “hire me,” which leads one to believe, whatever the “it” is Castiglione goes looking for, this guy Hybl must have it.
“We have matched unbridled enthusiasm with an impressive knowledge of the game, and we’re very encouraged about our future,” Castiglione said.
The crazy thing is the one time Castiglione really seemed off script was the one time the right, young, passionate guy was staring him in the face. Like an archeologist who’d unearthed a fantastic fossil, Castiglione tried giving OU baseball over to Gene Stephenson. Good for everybody, Stephenson gave the job back in time for a late dinner and the Sooners were stuck with Sunny Golloway.
It’s worth pointing out that Castiglione hired Ragan, too. Of course, good hitters swing and miss, yet in retrospect, stealing Ragan from Vanderbilt nine years ago looks like the safe choice. Hiring Hybl, if a little risky, comes off inspired.
The guess here is it works. That what the young coach might lack in polish he’ll make up for in passion, energy and chutzpah.
Now if he can just get the program to host an annual event on its home course, the one good enough for the USGA and the 2009 Public Links, which might just keep the Sooners from continuing to swing in anonymity, he’ll really be on to something.
Clay Horning
366-3526
cfhorning@normantranscript.com
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.