Oklahoma fans already have a favorite to be Joe Jon Finley's replacement

News broke on Thursday that the Oklahoma Sooners were expected to fire tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley, and after celebrating a move they've been wanting for years, OU fans immediately had a favorite idea for who to replace Finley.

SoonerScoop's Georgia Stoia initially reported the news that the Sooners were moving on from Finley after he was on his alma mater's coaching staff for five years with little to no production from his position. Even before Finley's firing, though, with sure hope it would eventually happen, many OU fans already had a guy in mind to be the Sooners' next tight ends coach: former NFL tight end Jason Witten.

Fans dreaming of Jason Witten as the Sooners' next tight ends coach

Witten, who was just named a finalist for the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class, had a 17-year career in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, as well as one season with the Las Vegas Raiders after briefly retiring. He was an 11-time Pro Bowler, named First-Team All-Pro twice and was Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year in 2012. He played his college ball at Tennessee.

Since retiring, after a brief stint in television, Witten has been the head coach at Liberty Christian School in Argyle, Texas. He reportedly turned down coaching offers from NFL and college teams to coach his sons at the high school level.

Witten has led Liberty Christian School to back-to-back state championships since taking over in 2021. His best player is his son, Cooper Witten, who is a five-star linebacker in the 2027 class and has an offer from the Sooners on the table, which is just another benefit OU fans see to having Witten on staff.

It's also worth noting that Witten was teammates with OU running backs coach DeMarco Murray in Dallas to serve as another reason for fans to believe Witten could be drawn to Oklahoma.

Some fans are already stating their dreams as reality.