Jason Witten proves his value fast by luring Tennessee tight end to Oklahoma

Just a day after officially being named Oklahoma’s new tight ends coach, Jason Witten already secured a commitment from a big-time transfer from his alma mater who grew up where Witten is king. 

Tennessee transfer tight end Jack Van Dorselaer committed to the Sooners, according to Hayes Fawcett of On3 on Monday morning. Dorselaer is freshman still with three years of eligibility left, but already has valuable SEC experience. 

Jack Van Dorselaer commits to Sooners out of Transfer Portal

Dorselaer got to Tennessee as a consensus four-star recruit out of Southlake Carroll High School in Texas, where he was used primarily as a blocker at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds. According to the 247Sports Composite, Dorselaer was the No. 18 athlete in the 2025 class. ESPN ranked him as the No. 6 TE in the class. 

OU also offered Dorselaer out of high school, as well as Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Texas, Texas A&M and more. That was before the Sooners had Witten as a secret weapon, though.

Dorselaer immediately got playing time as a starter at Tennessee and appeared in every game this season. He caught only five passes for 23 yards and a touchdown, but excels as a blocker. 

As a transfer, 247Sports ranked Dorselaer as the No. 10 tight end available in the portal this cycle. Witten was a big boost in the Sooners actually getting Dorselaer this time around considering Dorselaer is from the heart of the DFW area, where Witten is a legend as a former Dallas Cowboy. Witten also played at Tennessee before his NFL career, so everywhere Dorselaer has played, Witten was a great. 

News broke last week that Witten would replace Joe Jon Finley as the Sooners’ tight ends coach. Even before then, though, OU had already added two transfers in Florida’s Hayden Hansen and Colorado State’s Rocky Beers as the position is experiencing a complete overhaul from top to bottom.