Cowboys' Jason Witten wants to coach in NFL when playing career is over

Jori Epstein | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption NFL power rankings: Cowboys and Eagles go in different directions SportsPulse: The Eagles toppled the Cowboys in a pivotal NFC East showdown and Lorenzo Reyes tells us how this is reflected in the Week 16 power rankings.

FRISCO, Texas — Cowboys tight end Jason Witten chuckled, a smile spreading across his face as he patted a reporter’s shoulder.

“All right, guys,” the 16-year pro said, as he walked out of the locker room at the Star on Thursday afternoon.

No, Witten wasn’t willing to answer whether he wants to be Cowboys head coach when his playing career ends. But yes, Witten made absolutely clear, he wants to coach in the NFL when he’s finished playing.

“For sure,” Witten said when asked if coaching is in his immediate future. At what level of the game?

“Right here,” he continued. “I’ve spent my entire adulthood in pro football. Coaching is coaching. You want to be in a competitive level. … For me, I think this is a level you can have a lot of success in just because you’re so familiar with it. Really your whole life.”

Week 17 picks: Do 49ers or Seahawks lock up NFC West title?

Witten was not suggesting with any certainty this is his last pro season and possible final game Sunday if the Cowboys remain outside of the playoff picture. For one, retirement is less ominous for a player who’s already emerged from it once. Witten spent 2018 as a color analyst for ESPN’s "Monday Night Football" booth.

More importantly, though, Witten said he doesn’t believe in focusing on what lies after the one-year contract he signed to return to the Cowboys for 2019.

“Now is not the time (to think about that),” he said. “There will be time to make that decision, but I do not envision this being my last game. … I haven’t approached it that way. We’ll see what happens down the road, but I’m not approaching it that way.”

Witten has contributed 59 catches for 505 yards and four touchdowns this season to a 7-8 Dallas team. He has caught 74.7% of targets from quarterback Dak Prescott, including a recent one-handed touchdown that energized teammates in a 44-21 Dec. 15 win over the Rams. Witten spiked the ball in the aftermath, after a career vowing to “act like you’ve been there before.” The Cowboys carried the momentum through the resounding win before falling 17-9 in Philadelphia last weekend and losing control of the NFC East.

Witten came back, he said, in part because he believed the Cowboys could contend for a championship. So sitting below .500 after Week 16 is disappointing, even as he’s one touchdown away from tying Dez Bryant’s franchise record.

He doesn’t know if he’ll play a game for the Cowboys after Sunday.

“I think that’s a possibility,” Witten said. “But I don’t envision that from my approach. … I’m proud of the way I played and still have an opportunity in front of us. Yeah, 100%, I’ve got conviction on it was the right thing to do and proud of the way I’ve gone about it.”

Another point Witten is firm on: the allure of the Cowboys coaching job. Jason Garrett has one regular-season game left on his five-year contract. Owner Jerry Jones has discussed his disappointment of this season under Garrett, who has failed to reach a conference championship in a decade at the helm. A win Sunday would mark Garrett’s fourth 8-8 season as Cowboys coach.

It’s not an easy job, Witten said, noting “you’ve got to have thick skin” with the scrutiny that accompanies one of the most storied franchises in sports. But what a job it is, he said.

“How good of a job? Oh gosh,” Witten said. “You’re talking about the Dallas Cowboys. It’s a great job. This franchise, put it up against any franchise in all of sports. Head coach is the leader. He’s the guy that sets the tone for the whole organization as far as the structure of the football side of things.

“Not a better job out there than this job.”

Even if he won’t openly preach his interest in it.

Follow Jori Epstein on Twitter @JoriEpstein,