Everyone wants to be associated with a champion, and no one espouses that desire more than Joe Castiglione, director of intercollegiate athletics at the University of Missouri.
The University of Missouri has earned a championship academic reputation with world-class faculty teaching highly qualified students in state-of-the-art facilities. Now Castiglione has a new vision that will distinguish Mizzou athletics, bringing national recognition and a feeling of unprecedented pride to MU.
"We have a vision of championship caliber athletic programs that bring national prominence and prestige to MU," Castiglione says. "To realize the vision, MU must provide great academics, top-notch facilities and outstanding coaches to attract the best and brightest student-athletes."
His first step towards making that vision a reality is the creation of the Sports Park at MU. The Sports Park will encompass most of the Tiger athletic facilities in the area just south of Stadium Blvd., and flanking Providence Road. With an $85 million price tag, it's an ambitious project — one that will call for the greatest commitment to athletic facilities in the University's history.
But it's already on the road to reality. Within the last year, an outdoor track/soccer complex has been completed and is due to add a stadium structure, which will also address a need for better softball facilities, before the spring of 1998.
When Tiger fans come to Memorial Stadium this fall, they'll be greeted by a fan friendly facility that has undergone a $12 million renovation over the last 18 months. And across the street they'll witness a $12 million construction project, set to be completed by July 1998. Going up is the Daniel J. Devine Pavilion, an indoor practice facility to be utilized by a number of Tiger teams, the Dr. Glenn McElroy Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Center, and an academic learning center.
Down the road, a new basketball arena, the schematic designs for which were approved by the Board of Curators in May, a baseball stadium and other projects are envisioned.
The formal campaign to generate the needed capital, well-conceived and planned for the last several months, began in September.
On the side of facility improvements alone, Castiglione is carving his legacy in MU athletic history. Not since the days of Chester A. Brewer in the 1920s and '30s have so many ambitious projects been undertaken. Add to the list the projects already completed — a return to grass on Faurot Field, installation of permanent lights at Memorial Stadium, construction of an outdoor track/soccer complex, new dressing rooms for the men's and women's basketball teams, and other teams that utilize the Hearnes Center — and it's easy to make the comparison to Brewer, who built Memorial Stadium (1926) and Brewer Fieldhouse (1930) during his 10-year tenure as athletic director.
But the substance of Castiglione's administration is far more than bricks and mortar. At the core of his philosophy is the total development of the student-athlete. Providing facilities is a key component of that commitment, but so is MU's emphasis on academic excellence. In the Winter 1997 semester, that commitment saw the average student-athletes grade-point average climb to 2.694, with nearly half of MU's student-athlete population attaining 3.0 GPAs, with 105 members of the Dean's List.
His success was expected, for much of the credit for the accomplishments of Devine's tenure as athletic director went to Castiglione as his associate director. It was Castiglione's day-to-day leadership within the department that freed Devine to perform the public relations and fund-raising tasks that required many hours away from his Hearnes Center office.
Thus, it is appropriate that when the time came for former Chancellor Charles Kiesler to choose a successor upon Devine's Jan. 31, 1994, retirement that Castiglione got the nod.
His first week on the job was a memorable one, too. The week began with Mizzou's nationally ranked basketball team beating Kansas in an ESPN "Big Monday" game at Hearnes Center. Then, new football coach Larry Smith announced his first recruiting class, which included 12 in-state prospects. Then, the Tiger gymnasts won their prestigious "Cat Classic" and the next day, the MU women's basketball team upset nationally ranked KU.
Those early competitive triumphs were only a precursor of things to come. During Castiglione's tenure in office, other notable projects have been put into motion …
- The MU administrative staff has been realigned and continues to evolve to fit Castiglione's roll-up-your-sleeves management style.
- Castiglione has hired new coaches in the sports of baseball, swimming, women's soccer, tennis and volleyball. Two of them — swimming coach Brian Hoffer and baseball coach Tim Jamieson — have been honored as conference "Coaches of the Year."
- Women's soccer has been added as MU's 21st sport.
- An emphasis has been placed on service and the comfort of all Tiger fans with attention given to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The University developed a master facilities plan for the Athletic Department. Every MU athletic facility has been examined, both in terms of short-term and long-range needs.
- Missouri's development team has been realigned to provide personal attention to Tiger supporters statewide.
- Extensive marketing plans continue to be launched for the Tiger athletic program, taking coaches and staff members into every nook and cranny of Missouri to tell the MU story. The new sales/sponsorship concept involving Learfield Communications and ISP Sports is designed to increase the revenue stream. He's also strengthened Missouri's radio/television posture including the creation of a new presence for the Tiger Network in St. Louis, on KTRS Radio.
- Coach Larry Smith's first two football seasons were kicked off with Saturday night home games. The success of those ventures and the enthusiastic responses from MU fans prompted Castiglione to install permanent lights at Memorial Stadium
- The Varsity M Association was re-tooled to not only salute the contributions of MU letterwinners, but also to develop former Tigers as a support group for the University's active student-athletes.
- Castiglione was an active participant in the negotiations that led to the creation of the Big 12 Conference, and in cultivating new television contracts that will boost league revenue.
- He re-evaluated and compiled Missouri's future football and basketball schedules into the next century.
- A Student-Athlete Advisory Council was formed, to bring input from MU's population of more than 400 Tigers to the front office.
- Received a commendation in 1995 from the CFA for boosting MU's football graduation rate to a record 75 percent.
Now in his 17th year at Mizzou, and 21st overall in college athletics, Castiglione spent several years directing the Tiger front-office team to shoulder the load of running a comprehensive Division I athletic program.
He was well-prepared to accept the weighty responsibilities entrusted to him by Devine, and in turn by Kiesler. For four years prior to Devine's arrival, Castiglione served as first lieutenant to former AD Dick Tamburo, advancing from assistant athletic director to associate athletic director in 1991. He served as interim athletic director between the time Devine was hired and his arrival in Columbia, finalizing the 1992-93 budget.
He spent most of his last six months as associate AD developing a five-year strategic plan for the athletic department's future growth. Coincidental to that effort, he spearheaded the search committee as MU's assistant athletic director/senior women's administrator, and he played a primary role in identifying Larry Smith as the Tigers' new head football coach.
One of Castiglione's priorities is to broaden Mizzou's base of support. "We will continue to persevere in our absolute attempt to get more people actively involved in our program," he said. "That is a must, whether they be from the faculty, from the staff or alumni, fans or friends around the state. We must have more people actively involved in our program if we're going to be successful in the long term."
He began his athletic career while still in college at the University of Maryland. After a short term as a Maryland football player, he worked in the athletic department under Russ Potts, the Terrapins' assistant athletic director and a pioneer in the field of sports marketing. After graduating with a sports marketing degree in 1979, he worked at Rice University in sports promotions for two years, and raised more money in one year than had ever been given to Rice athletics. He then served a year as director of athletic fundraising at Georgetown University before former A.D. Dave Hart brought him to Missouri as director of communications and marketing, a new position at MU, in 1981.
In his first years at Missouri, Castiglione oversaw the implementation of MU's first marketing program, the creation of the Tigers' trademark licensing program, and the development of
Missouri's radio and television networks — among the largest and most innovative in the country.
Under Tamburo, Castiglione supervised and directed Missouri's 16 "Varsity Sports", managed the sports information and marketing staffs, training room, strength and conditioning program and facility improvements. He served as executive producer for MU's ventures in radio and television, and was involved in football and basketball scheduling and in network television negotiations.
Castiglione is active in the community, working as a member of the Columbia Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors, the Multiple Sclerosis Institute board of directors, the March of Dimes, the United Way, and in church affairs.
He was one of the prime movers in the 1989 founding of the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators, an organization he served as president and past-president. In 1995, Castiglione was honored by NACDA with an award for distinguished contributions to intercollegiate sports marketing. This year he received the "Man of the Year" award from Unico National, a nationwide Italian-American civic organization.
He's been a key player in Missouri's participation in Conference and NCAA matters. He just completed his first year as a member of the NCAA Baseball Committee, administering the national championship tournament and College World Series.
A native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Castiglione was born Oct. 8, 1957. He was married in 1995 to the former Kristen Bartel, a 1990 MU graduate. They are the parents of an infant son, Joseph Robert Junior, who was born in January.