Jason Witten - Tight Ends Coach - Football Coaches

Jason Witten

Title:
Tight Ends Coach

Jason Witten, a former All-Pro tight end who played 17 seasons in the NFL and guided two state championship teams in his five-year tenure as a high school head football coach in Texas, was hired as Oklahoma's tight ends coach in January 2026.

Since retiring from the NFL following the 2020 season, Witten has served as head coach at Liberty Christian School in Argyle, Texas, where he led the Warriors to consecutive Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools state championships in 2023 and ’24. The titles were the school’s first back-to-back football state championships and the ’24 crown was its first in TAPPS Division I. In his five seasons at Liberty Christian, Witten tutored players who earned TAPPS All-State recognition 53 times.

Over his 17-year NFL career, Witten compiled 1,228 receptions for 13,046 yards and 74 touchdowns. A two-time first-team All-Pro and 11-time Pro Bowler, he ranks fourth all-time in NFL receptions and 22nd in yards among all receivers (second among tight ends in both categories).

Witten is one of 15 finalists – and one of four in his first year of eligibility – in the Modern-Era Players category for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026, which will be announced Feb. 5.

A third-round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys in 2003, Witten played 15 seasons before initially retiring following the 2017 campaign. He returned to action in 2019 with the Cowboys before playing his final season with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020. A modern football iron man, he played in 271 out of 272 regular season contests (252 starts) and missed only one game out of 280 (including playoffs) over his career. He retired for good as the NFL career record holder for games played among tight ends.

Witten registered four seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards and seven seasons with at least 900 yards. In his second year, he caught 87 passes for 980 yards and six touchdowns, earning the first of seven straight Pro Bowl nods. He received first-team All-Pro honors in 2007 when he totaled 1,145 yards and seven touchdowns on 96 receptions and again in 2010 after catching 94 passes for 1,002 yards and nine scores. He also earned second-team All-Pro status in 2008 and 2012. He was named to the Pro Bowl in 10 of 11 seasons between 2004-2014, as well as in 2017.

The 2012 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year honoree, Witten established the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year award through his SCORE Foundation, which was first presented following the 2017 season. Witten was also the recipient of the 2013 Bart Starr Award and the 2015 Pat Summitt Ignite Greatness Award, as well as Pro Football Weekly’s Humanitarian of the Year Award, the Home Depot NFL Neighborhood MVP and the Bob Lilly Award, recognizing his community service work, achievements on the field and dedication to teammates and family. He was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.

A product of Elizabethton, Tenn., Witten played three seasons at the University of Tennessee, where he was a first-team All-SEC selection and a John Mackey Award semifinalist, as well as a member of the SEC Good Works Team and SEC Academic Honor Roll, in 2002. That season, he led the Volunteers in receptions (39), receiving yards (493) and touchdown receptions (five) and established a single-season school record for receiving yards among tight ends. He totaled 68 catches for 797 yards and eight touchdowns in his college career.

Witten graduated from Tennessee in 2008 with a degree in sports management. He and his wife Michelle have two sons (C.J. and Cooper) and two daughters (Landry and Hadley Grace).