The Dallas Cowboys surprised many when they opted to bring in Brian Schottenheimer as their next head coach heading into the 2025 NFL season. And much to the chagrin of Cowboys fans, Schottenheimer’s arrival likely means that a Cowboys legend will not be included in the Cowboys coaching staff.
One of the darkhorse head coaching candidates for the Cowboys throughout their hiring process was legendary tight end Jason Witten, who spent 16 seasons in Dallas and made 11 Pro Bowl appearances throughout his time with the team.
Since his retirement from the NFL, Witten has been a coach at the high school ranks, leading the Liberty Christian Warriors in Texas to back-to-back state championships in 2022 and 2023.
Though Witten has no NFL coaching experience to speak of, some believe that Witten would have been the perfect man to lead the Cowboys given the fact that he already has a working relationship with owner Jerry Jones.
Jones has even spoken quite highly of Witten’s coaching abilities, saying that he believes Witten will one day be an “excellent” NFL coach.
Despite this, Jerry Jones decided to go in another direction and hire Schottenheimer. And Schottenheimer does not appear to have any interest in bringing in Witten as an assistant.
According to Jerry Jones, Witten is not expected to join his former team in any capacity this coming season, which was first reported on by Patrik Walker of the Cowboys team website.
Ideally, someone like Witten would end up as an NFL assistant before taking a head coaching job once he becomes a bit more polished as a coach.
Maybe that will happen in Dallas in years to come or potentially elsewhere around the NFL. But regardless, Witten is believed to be returning back to the high school coaching ranks for the time being.
