Ex-Dallas Cowboys TE Jason Witten to make college coaching debut as Oklahoma assistant

Nairavoice | Sep 3, 2026 27m ago 148 0 4 min read

2ac15066c016a43d2165a81e6b771893 Ex-Dallas Cowboys TE Jason Witten to make college coaching debut as Oklahoma assistant

Ex-Dallas Cowboys TE Jason Witten to make college coaching debut as Oklahoma assistant originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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NORMAN, Okla. — Former Dallas Cowboys star Jason Witten will take another major step in his football journey on Friday night in his first game as Oklahoma’s tight ends coach.

Witten played tight end for 17 years in the NFL, and the 11-time Pro Bowler ranks fourth all-time in league history with 1,228 receptions. He’ll experience his first game as a college assistant on Friday night when the Sooners host UTEP.

Oklahoma hired him in January, and he quickly made an impression on offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle.

“I mean, he’s the ultimate teammate,” Arbuckle said. “I made it really, really clear to him on multiple occasions like, ‘Hey if you see something or maybe you disagree with someone, I’m not one to just let it sit back. Tell me about it. Let’s talk about it.'”

Arbuckle considers himself fortunate to have an assistant with so much experience. Witten had 13,046 yards and 74 touchdowns receiving in his NFL career. He was a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year.

“He’s seen so much football,” Arbuckle said. “He’s seen so many different ways to do things. He’s had so many different — whether it’s head coaches, offensive coordinators, position coaches in his time playing. He’s seen so many different ways of doing something that it would be naive of me not to try and find the best way to do something.”

“I’m not trying to gas him… but he is what he is.”
Brent Venables had high praise for new Oklahoma tight ends coach Jason Witten, calling the future Hall of Famer “a great one.” @NewsOn6
🎥⬇️ #SECMediaDays pic.twitter.com/IF0VfupnSZ
— News 9 (@NEWS9) July 20, 2026

Quarterback John Mateer immediately gravitated to Witten.

“You just hang around guys like that,” Mateer said. “It’s gold. They’re (guys at his level) just giving you gold all the time. I’m around him as much as I can. And luckily, he calls me and he gives me that wisdom. He wants to share his wisdom and we’ve seen that in the offense. And it’s been great.”

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Witten said he appreciates Mateer’s willingness to soak in his wisdom.

“He really got out of his comfort zone and reached out to me or popped by my office, and we just got to know one another,” Witten said. “I think he was very intentional about asking questions and inquiring of, ‘Give me your thoughts and give me your truthful thoughts.’ I had goals and dreams when I was his age. I don’t know that I had the approach that he has, the maturity to kind of seek that out.”

MORE: Oklahoma coach Brent Venables says Sooners likely won’t play Friday games in the future

Witten had a critical step between his NFL career and Oklahoma. He led Liberty Christian School in Argyle, Texas to a pair of state titles in five years. He said as a high school coach, he learned to adjust how he shares his knowledge with athletes who have not reached the pro level yet.

“The greatest teaching tool for me was coaching high school because it really taught me, coming from the NFL, that they don’t learn like I do,” he said. “I learned they don’t have the same expectation. So how do I impact, how do I reach them, how do I get that?”

That approach earned Witten immediate respect.

“What unbelievable humility he has,” Arbuckle said. “I mean he’s — I grew up a Dallas Cowboys fan, and in a lot of respects, in my eyes, he’s the greatest tight end that’s ever played the dang game, right? But you don’t get that feeling from him. He’s Coach Witten. He’s bought into the culture that coach (Brent) Venables has set. He’s bought into the standard of Oklahoma.”