I think Joe C is a very good AD at the twilight of his career. Not sure I’d call him “the best” although to be fair I’m not entirely familiar with other AD resumes for a comparison.
Joe has hit on a lot of hires and raised a lot of money, but I think has built a lot of his reputation winning in the easier sports to win in. Most of women’s sports where just a minor amount of investment goes a long way (bball, gym, softball) and he even almost allowed the WBB team to whither away into mediocrity due to allowing Coale to stay on well past her time.
Pete Hughes and Sunny Golloway were horrible hires and he kinda lucked into Skip who was already on Pete’s staff (I love Skip btw). Men’s gym (as a sport) isn’t super competitive. Wrestling gets embarrassed by OSU even with a lot of appreciation for the sport in the state. No need to discuss the state of the men’s basketball program as everyone here is familiar with where it’s at. Lastly, this may be a hot take but I think he’s been fortunate with the football program during his tenure. Took a shot on Stoops and hit on a coach that we were lucky to hold onto for almost 20 years. Riley is what it is, but I fault Joe C for allowing the complacency that had engulfed the football program that caused Riley to want to leave. Riley’s departure reinvigorated the donors and the desire to succeed but some of that situation falls on Joe. Love BV but that’s still a wait and see.
All this to say I think he’s a good AD, but he certainly has a few blemishes on the record and more than a lot of Sooner fans care to admit. I’d be sad to see him leave, but also open to seeing what some new blood might bring to the table.