Reports: Oklahoma Deputy AD Targeted by Mississippi State

Selmon, who has been speculated as a candidate to replace Joe Castiglione someday, comes from OU royalty and would be the latest branch on Joe C growing tree.

Joe Castiglione’s tree may have just grown another branch.

Multiple reports, including Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger and the Jackson Clarion Ledger, cited unnamed sources Wednesday indicating that Oklahoma deputy athletic director Zac Selmon may be in line for the AD job at Mississippi State.

The newspaper reported that Selmon will be on campus in Starkville on Thursday.

Mississippi State needs an AD after John Cohen left for Auburn. Both outlets report that MSU is targeting Selmon, 37, who would become the first black athletic director in school history. Selmon did not respond to a text message Wednesday night.

Selmon is OU’s Deputy AD for External Engagement and Advancement.

He began his post-playing career at OU in 2009 as a graduate assistant, then worked in the athletic department at North Carolina before returning to OU in 2015 as Senior Associate Athletics Director/Chief of Operations.

According to his OU bio, Selmon “provides oversight of the Stakeholder Relations objective of OU Athletics' strategic plan, which includes: Sooner Club (Athletics Advancement), Varsity “O” Association, strategic communications, media relations, digital media, SoonerVision, fan engagement, marketing, multi-media rights, licensing, brand management, and ticket sales. In addition, Selmon has sport oversight for football.

“In September 2019, Selmon was appointed to the NCAA Football Rules Committee.

“From 2017-2021, Selmon served as the Senior Associate Athletics Director for Advancement / Administration and had sport oversight of Men's and Women's Track and Field / Cross Country.”

OU’s Sooner Club under Selmon set records for donations in 2018 and 2019, and in 2020, the Sooner Club set a record for the highest amount of philanthropic giving in OU Athletics history.

Selmon is the son of Sooner defensive line legend Dewey Selmon, and the nephew of Lucious and the late Lee Roy Selmon — 1970s OU royalty who landed multiple All-America accolades under Barry Switzer and had successful careers in the NFL. The brothers had a statue erected northeast of the stadium last summer.

Selmon was a four-year starting tight end for Wake Forest, where he received a bachelor's degree in religion and international studies in 2007. He then got a masters in education with an emphasis in intercollegiate athletics administration from Oklahoma, where he has studied under Castiglione since 2015.

It’s long been speculated that Selmon would be a strong candidate to eventually replace Castiglione, 65, at Oklahoma. A successful stint as the boss of Mississippi State athletics could hasten that move.

Multiple members of Castiglione’s leadership team throughout the years have gone on to high-profile positions in athletics throughout the country, including Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez, Nevada AD Stephanie Rempe, Colorado State AD Joe Parker, Sun Belt commissioner Keith Gill, Northwestern AD Derrick Gragg and Cornell athletic director Nicki Moore, among others.