The Dallas Cowboys are 3-6 and potentially poised to move on from head coach Mike McCarthy after this season. If that happens, could America’s Team turn to a former player to run the show?
It’s a stretch, but team owner Jerry Jones does believe retired All-Pro tight end Jason Witten could be an impactful NFL head coach — likening him to potential Coach of the Year candidate Dan Campbell, who also played tight end.
“Without hesitation, yes,” Jones said when asked if Witten could be a head coach in today’s game. “He has something that you can’t draw up. He reminds me a lot of our other tight end who is head coach up there in Detroit right now.
“Jason is very sophisticated when it comes to understanding football and all the nuances, but more important than anything, he really does understand the physical and the mentality of being physical and that part of it. Without a question, he could become [an NFL coach]. He has [an] extraordinary work ethic. … He can be a top coach.”
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Witten played 16 seasons with the Cowboys (2003-17, 2019), with whom he was one of the elite tight ends in the sport. He totaled 1,000-plus receiving yards in four seasons, 90-plus receptions in four seasons and logged 110 receptions in 2012. Witten finished his career as a two-time All-Pro and 11-time Pro Bowler and missed just one regular-season game.
He retired following the 2017 season and joined the broadcast booth for Monday Night Football in 2018. Witten returned to the Cowboys after one year and then spent the 2020 season with the Las Vegas Raiders before retiring once again.
Witten has been the head coach at Argyle Liberty Christian High School since 2021; he coaches his two sons there.
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As for Jones’ coaching comparison, Campbell’s Detroit Lions own the best record in the NFC at 8-1 in what is his fourth season on the job. The Lions dominated the Cowboys in Week 6 in Dallas, 47-9. Last season, the Lions reached the NFC Championship Game, which followed a 9-8 season. Campbell was also the interim head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2015, with the team going 5-7.
Both Campbell and Witten were third-round draft picks and played for the Cowboys. Campbell played the first four seasons of his career with the New York Giants (1999-2002), who drafted him, before a three-year stint with the Cowboys (2003-05) and then a three-year stint with the Lions (2006-08).
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