Jason Witten explains why he joined Oklahoma and Tennessee fans won't be thrilled

There’s been some recent buzz surrounding Jason Witten and the Tennessee Vols football program. Nothing serious, but many Vols fans have long wanted him on the staff. Witten was a standout player for Tennessee and went on to have a legendary NFL career, making 11 Pro Bowls and setting the standard for the tight end position for years.

Over the offseason, Witten took the Oklahoma job, and Vols fans were upset. Not only did they miss out on Jason, but his son is a five-star linebacker who is believed to be a package deal with his father.

When asked about why Jason choose the Sooners he said:

"Simply put, it's the Oklahoma Sooners, ya know. There's not another program with more tradition and success over the years. There are some great programs in this league."

Witten not only loves the program, but also spoke highly of head coach Brent Venables and offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, under whom he’ll be working.

"I think shortly after visiting with coach (Brent) Venables, I got on the phone with coach (Ben) Arbuckle," said Witten. "I think he's extremely bright, he's young, you don't get to the seat where he's at his age that doesn't happen all the time, and I think that was somebody that I felt like I could learn from and be a part of, and really just felt aligned with him was a part of it as well."

Witten also mentioned the fact that many of his pro teramates that came from Oklahoma set the standard.

"I've always just admired and respected this program, you know, over the course of my pro football career, a number of teafmates coming from Oklahoma, and all of them were the right type of teammates, the right type of people, and phenomenal football players that love the game, and so that's what I wanted to be a part of. I wanted to go coach ball, pour into them, all the things I just said, I think what a great opportunity and platform for me to be able to do it here."

Jason Witten calls Oklahoma home now

I understand that Witten loves and admires the Sooners program. They’ve always been a strong team, but the fact that he didn’t want to come back home to Knoxville is a big disappointment. Part of that is on Josh Heupel, of course, but I can’t help but think that if Witten had publicly expressed interest in the job, it might have somehow worked out.

Respectfully, the offense at Oklahoma has been nowhere near the level that Heupel has achieved at Tennessee. Maybe part of Witten's decision was the fact that his son would learn from Venables? Either way, missing out on Witten hurts, and seeing him talk so highly of Oklahoma like they're Bear Bryant's Alabama team stings even more.