Dallas Cowboys legend Jason Witten is enjoying his unexpected new career as a high school football coach after turning around a program in just three seasons and clinching the first championship of his career.
Witten is the head coach at Liberty Christian, a small private school in Argyle, a small town at the northern edge of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex with a population of 5,000.
Witton’s Warrior squad won the TAPPS Division II title over Austin Regents 52-10 in December at the Waco ISD stadium.
“All my years in Dallas and even in college, this is the first championship that I even experienced myself,” Witten said “So, you know, I’ve always dreamed of that and feeling it.”
It’s a family affair for Coach Witten, whose two sons C.J., a junior; and Cooper, a freshman, are a part of the team.
The 11-time Pro Bowler is certainly no stranger to football but coaching high school is a far cry from the spotlight he lived in for nearly two decades as a face of the most valuable franchise in NFL history.
Witten took the job in Argyle in 2021. “I’ve loved every second of it,” he said.
It’s an unexpected twist in the illustrious career of one the greatest tight ends to ever play the game, but after learning Witten’s background it’s not surprising.
Witten was raised by his grandfather, who was also his high school coach, in Tennessee.
“I’ve always had so much admiration for high school football coaches. My grandfather was a high school coach, my coach,” Witten said. “I’ve had some amazing leaders and men in my life but at the top of that list would be my grandfather, who happened to be my high school coach, and so it wasn’t lost on me the opportunity that I could have on these kids.”
Witten spent 17 seasons in the NFL, all but one of those as a Dallas Cowboy.
He initially retired in 2018 before becoming a color analyst for ESPN’s Monday Night Football.
Witten returned to the NFL in 2019 with the Cowboys before then joining the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020.
Witten said when he decided to play in Vegas, he knew he wanted to be a coach.
“One of the kind of catches for that was I kind of wanted to get into coaching and I knew Coach Gruden had done that. We had a relationship from Monday Night Football and so I said, ‘yeah, I’ll come in there. I’ll be a leader,’ but I also want to get a peek behind the curtain of coaching, and all along, I always kind of thought at that level of college.”
Witten said it was tough being away from his family in Texas during the 2020 NFL season at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the season ended, Witten’s oldest son was getting ready to start high school at Liberty Christian and the school was searching for a new head football coach.
“They had to rebuild an entire program and, obviously, it’s Texas and football is an important part and so I had a couple of conversations and said, ‘I’m in,’” Witten said.
Witten went 2-8 in his first season.
“The first year was hard, 2-8,” Witten said. “I’ve been around for a long time. I don’t know that I’ve ever lost eight games straight and we lost them bad, but you just stay the course.”
Witten credits a dedicated staff, supportive parents and hardworking kids for turning the Warriors’ program around.
While opposing teams and fans certainly recognize Witten’s star power, it’s never been a focus on his team.
“I don’t talk much about my playing days,” Witten laughed. “I think the first year was a little bit of a big deal of we got off the bus and there’s autograph guys and maybe opposing teams cheerleaders asking, ‘Can we get a photo?’ Our guys were a little bit bright-eyed with all that but now I think what I try to establish is, okay, maybe that opened a door of the excitement that you’re going to be willing to listen to maybe something I said.”
The team listened. This past season Liberty Christian went 14-0.
“It just confirmed to me how you build a program, whether it’s in the high school level or at the professional level, you know, there’s a right way to do things and you just get the right people together and the kids that believe.”
Witten says coaching his sons has come with unique but memorable moments.
“My son, who’s a freshman, got an interception and he ran it back for a touchdown and, usually, I move on pretty quickly, give them a high five and go and I just kind of caught myself for a second just smiling. And yeah, you’re proud, right and you want to see them have success. “
“My older son, same thing, when he kind of had his first big moment. You try to catch yourself and take a breath and a lot of coaches who have coached their son, they share that with me, like ‘enjoy these moments. Don’t be so hard on them that you can’t enjoy it.’”
WEB Xtra: Full interview with Jason Witten
Witten says his faith plays a large role in his coaching.
“It’s been the backbone of it. I think I saw that my grandfather, he led me to the Lord. He led me to Christ and the greatest decision I could ever make, and I think being in a place where that’s welcomed and encouraged, and I think so much for me is being able to share my testimony.”
Witten says he doesn’t know how much longer he’ll coach high school.
“I get asked that a lot and I don’t know that I can answer that. I mean, I think, obviously, I still have goals and aspirations of one day being a head coach at a major, major university or major professional team. I mean, that’s a that’s always been a goal for me.”
But for now, the all but certain future Hall of Famer is just enjoying the ride in Argyle under the Friday night lights.
“Right now, I’m just enjoying where I am.”
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