Former Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten is reportedly emerging as a front-runner to fill the head coaching vacancy of his old team.
On Monday, news broke that the Cowboys parted ways with head coach Mike McCarthy after failing to agree on a new deal. McCarthy’s five-year deal was up, and it took owner Jerry Jones eight days to finally settle on a coaching change following the team’s Week 18 regular-season finale.
Plenty of big names have been thrown around as potential successors to McCarthy, including Jon Gruden, Doug Pederson, Deion Sanders (Prime Time confirmed having conversations with Jones) and Kellen More.
According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, Jason Witten himself is also a prominent name to follow in the Cowboys’ head coaching search:
Witten just completed his fourth season as the head coach of the Liberty Christian School football team in Argyle, Texas. The future Canton member guided the school to a second consecutive state championship this past season.
McCarthy went 49-35-0 over his five seasons as the Dallas head coach, including three straight 12-win seasons from 2021 to 2023. However, they only won a single playoff game during his five-year tenure.
Jason Witten Owns Several Cowboys Franchise Records
The 11-time Pro Bowler played for the Cowboys from 2003 to 2017 and again in 2019 (he retired for one season in 2018), racking up 1,215 receptions for 12,977 yards and 72 touchdowns.
Witten is the franchise leader in catches and receiving yards by a healthy margin, and only Dez Bryant (73) finished with more TD receptions than his longtime teammate.
