Stop me if you’ve heard this before: In a new live interview, Cowboys Owner and General Manager Jerry Jones sparked a fanbase frenzy with his comments.
Not only have we heard that before, but it feels like we’ve heard it a thousand times in the last few weeks alone. This time, however, it was regarding the potential coaching search Dallas will be on in a few months.
On 105.3 The Fan, Jones hinted at a future NFL head coaching career for Cowboys legend, Jason Witten.
Specifically, he compared Witten’s potential as a coach to that of Lions Head Coach, Dan Campbell, saying “He reminds me a lot of our other tight end who is head coach up there in Detroit right now.”
It doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots of what Jones hints at here. There is a real chance he would consider Witten, currently a high school football coach, for the top job in the 2025 offseason.
Let’s discuss what Witten as a head coach looks like, how realistic Jerry Jones is being here, and more after these latest comments.
Jason Witten: Why and How He’s a Candidate
It’s been a while since Cowboys fans were following what Jason Witten was up to, but it seems like it may be time to start paying attention again.
The former All-Pro passed up on coaching in the NFL or in college in favor of leading Liberty Christian High School’s football team. Since that time, Witten’s boys are 35-11 with a 9-1 record this year.
That’s an impressive record, and we all know how difficult it is to win high school football games in Texas.
Is it impressive enough to make the jump to the NFL? That, I’m not so sure of. Does that matter to Jones, who could light the football world on fire by hiring one of his franchise’s all-time greats? I think not.
If you remove the Cowboys from the picture, a fair timeline for a Witten-NFL opportunity is at least five years. He’d likely have to make the jump from high school to either college or the pros first.
When you put the Cowboys back in the picture, his timeline could be just months away from making the biggest jump possible.
Jason Witten is a great football mind, a franchise legend, and a coach with a bright future. If you don’t think Jerry Jones will consider just those three things alone and consider hiring him, you don’t know Jerry Jones.
Jerry Jones: Stirring the Pot, or Serious?
Now, I don’t think anybody would put it past Jones to consider hiring Witten at some point. The real question is, is that time now, or is the media maestro himself just stirring the pot once again?
Above everything else, Jones wants to be in the news, and he wants to make sure the Cowboys have eyes on them.
Sprinkling praise of Witten in an interview, and mentioning that he could be a “top coach” in the NFL, is awfully interesting timing from Jones.
Everybody knows that Dallas may have a coaching search underway soon, and any mention of candidates is going to cause the kind of coverage that these comments are getting right now.
It is possible Jones did not have that in mind when he decided to give Witten this praise, but given everything we know about him, that may be unrealistic.
So, is this just another attention-grab comment from the Cowboys frontman, or is it a sign that this will be a real consideration once the offseason rolls around? The answer is likely a little bit of both.
I doubt that Jerry Jones had no idea his comments would catch eyes, and I also doubt that if Mike McCarthy is not retained, there won’t at least be a conversation about Jason Witten.
It may just be too early to know the truth, but with Week 11 in front of them, the countdown to the 2025 offseason is ticking.