Now a Texas high school football coach, Jason Witten makes a difference on and off the field
Dallas Cowboys legend Jason Witten spent 17 years in the NFL before retiring in 2020, but he’s still under the lights.
Witten is preparing to begin his third season as a Texas high school football head coach at Argyle Liberty Christian. He said he enjoys the relationships built with young athletes.
“I’m reminded why I fell in love with this game,” Witten said.
Witten’s Warriors have seen both success and failure. In Witten’s first year as head coach, the team won two games.
In 2022, the Warriors quintupled their total, winning 10 games and going undefeated in TAPPS District 1-D2 play. Now, Argyle Liberty Christian is looking to build on a strong season.
“Seeing them have success and seeing them work through adversity and their failures, it’s just such a great metaphor for life,” Witten said. “Using the game as that platform has been very rewarding for me.”
Coaching the Warriors
Witten tallied 13,046 yards and 74 touchdowns in the NFL, solidifying his legacy as one of the best tight ends in league history. At the high school level, however, he’s making sure the young athletes understand the fundamentals.
“We can’t write a chapter in the book until we know the alphabet,” Witten said.
Witten has high standards and expects the players and staff to buy into the process.
“We’re not going to cheat it,” Witten said. “I think one thing I learned in the game of football is that it’s a meritocracy, and that you get what you earn, and there’s no shortcuts to that success.”
Witten is direct, and if the coaching staff makes a mistake, he has full transparency with the players. Witten said the honesty and vulnerability allows the team to avoid egos and feelings of jealousy.
He coaches hard, pushing the athletes to improve.
The Warriors have a mantra: Be one. It’s about being selfless and prioritizing the needs of the team.
“It’s family, you know?” Witten said. “You got to get kids to believe that they can win, believe that they can have success, believe in the power of team and what it can teach you. I think our players know that we love them, and every coaching point that we give, is to help them be the best version of themselves.”
Witten said teaching discipline is vital for athletes to reach their full potential.
“We’re not picking on you,” Witten said. “We’re not mad at you. Nobody is bigger than the team.”
Family on the field
Jason Witten’s son, CJ Witten, is a junior at Argyle Liberty Christian, and he’s not following in his father’s footsteps as a tight end. CJ Witten, a linebacker, is blazing his own path and had a solid season in 2022, tallying 75 tackles.
Jason Witten said it’s been a rewarding experience to coach his son. The staff is demanding of CJ Witten, and his father says he is treated like any other player.
Witten said he wants his staff to coach him hard, but also uplift his son.
“It’s just been great for me to be able to kind of hit pause and to be a part of every step of that journey with him through high school,” Witten said. “I’m not there to hold his hand, but at the same time, it’s just been very rewarding to to see him grow and become a leader and gain confidence.”
Witten has been enjoying living in the moment with his family.
“It’s been a great experience for me to be able to walk through such a fun time in his life and really such an important time in his life and use the game of football as a vessel to really help grow him into the man that he aspires to be,” Witten said.
The impact of Witten’s early career
At Elizabethton High School in Tennessee, Witten was coached by his late grandfather, Dave Rider, who was a father figure to him. Witten said Rider taught him the importance of committing to the game.
“If you don’t love football, it’s gonna be a hard game to play,” Witten said, reflecting on his high school days.
Witten said he thinks about the relationships he made at the high school level and said some of his former teammates are close friends. Even without a 17 year NFL career, the experience would’ve been enough, he said.
“If it stopped right there, it was worth it,” Witten said. “I hope that my goal is that our program can aspire to be half of that for these young men as it was for me.”
Witten took a valuable lesson from his college days too. During Witten’s time as a Tennessee Volunteer, Phillip Fulmer, the head coach of Tennessee from 1992 to 2008, taught him the value of having a plan, high standards and knowing the steps required to improve.
The lessons learned from former Cowboys coaches
With the Cowboys Witten first played under head coach Bill Parcels, from 2003 to 2006. As his career blossomed, he continued to learn from the best.
Parcels taught him to tell the cold, hard truth. He was a tough, “old school” coach, according to Witten.
Witten said that all players yearn for the truth, even if they don’t always want to hear it. He said sugarcoating problems leads to a lack of responsibility and growth.
“Good, bad or in between, tell me the truth,” Witten said, reflecting on his early days in the NFL.
From 2007 to 2010, Witten played for Wade Phillips. He said Phillips was a constant reminder to stay humble.
“It’s not about the coach,” Witten said. “It’s about the players. Everything we do in our program is about the kids.”
Witten also discussed his time playing for Jason Garrett from 2011 to 2019, saying he learned the importance of growing with the game as it evolves. He said football has an endless cycle of new plays, systems, ideas and messages.
Now, he’s doing everything he can to keep Warrior football fresh.
“When you truly love the game, it never stops,” Witten said.
Incorporating faith into football
As the head coach of Argyle Liberty Christian, a private school, Witten is able to talk freely about his faith. He said the greatest way to teach the youth strong morals to is showing them the proper way to carry themselves and to treat others with respect.
“We should model what we’re asking from our kids in the way we live our daily life,” Witten said.
The team prays together, but Witten said that all walks of life, not just players who practice Christianity, are a part Warrior football.
“This is a part of our lives,” Witten said. “This isn’t just the way we started the practice. So we don’t just pray at the end of practice. We’re here to walk with you.”
This story was originally published August 18, 2023 at 9:29 AM.
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