Cooper Witten, son of Dallas Cowboys legend, to camp at Notre Dame
The son of an NFL legend will have a chance to shine at Notre Dame's Irish Invasion event this weekend.
Top Fighting Irish target Cooper Witten will be at the program's signature recruiting event along with a bevy of other top prospects who have been on ND's radar.
The Class of 2027 five-star linebacker from Liberty Christian (Argyle, TX) grew up watching his father, Jason, excel in a likely Hall of Fame career with the Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders. After retirement, Witten became the head coach at Liberty Christian, where Cooper and his older brother CJ attend. He led the program to back to back state championships in 2023 and 2024.
The 6-foot and 3-inch, 210-pound younger Witten earned an offer from Clemson Wednesday after showcasing his skills at the Dabo Swinney football camp. Witten moves with ease and has run a 10.91-second 100 meters. His elite closing speed and football instincts make him one of the premiere defenders in his class.
His offer list includes heavy hitters outside of Notre Dame, including Alabama, Michigan, Texas and his father's alma mater, Tennessee. In his sophomore season, he had 45 tackles, five interceptions (two returned for touchdowns) and seven receiving scores on offense.
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Even as a quarterback, for me, as a professional quarterback who played 23 years, and at the end of, let's say, my last three seasons in Tampa, I was throwing 700 passes a season, and I would throw 20 of those passes exactly the way I wanted - with the right arc, the right pace, the right position on the receiver. Twenty of 700, and I worked all year round to get my throwing mechanics the way I wanted. I worked with my receivers. So then you go into broadcasting, and it's like, why would you think you're gonna hit 350 of the 700? In the end, you're probably only gonna hit a limited amount. And I think that's what you're searching for, those parts of the season, or those parts of the game where you're like, 'I really got that.' You don't want to have, you know, these terrible moments where you completely miss it. And I think maybe I was really conscious of that early, and then I got to be a little more freed up as the season went on." Klatt: What you work for is that those 20 situations happen at the right time, so that in the right moment, on the right third down, the right clock situation, that you were prepared to give your best right there. That's how I view broadcasting. I want to set the table. I actually call it chumming the waters. You throw a bunch of lines in the lake, and then, at some point, my job is to know which line gets grabbed by the game, which I don't know which one it is. Then, can I reel it in? Do I have enough in-depth knowledge of the philosophy of both teams and what's going on with the players and the game situation to reel it in so that the fan really knows what's going on? That's what really excites me is those moments, when you can reel it in with some real depth. Brady: "That's amazing insight. There are so many ways that it can go. When you start, 'What do I talk about?' There's a ball that's thrown and completed. Do you want to say the guy made a great throw? Do you want to talk about the great route or the great offensive call? Or do you want to talk about the situation? Or do you want to talk about the defensive coverage? Or the blitz that didn't get home. Or the protection that held up? It's a white canvas for you, and it's totally blank, and you get to create it. I think that's the enjoyable part for me. You go into a game and it is a blank slate, and you hope that two teams perform really well. But at the end of the day, they've got to go do it, and you're a complementary piece to this amazing game that we love. The game should be the entertainment and then, just add a little value to the viewer, so that they can understand the game a little bit deeper, and to teach them a little something. So I think those are the parts I probably enjoy the most." Tom Brady, who is the most prolific passer in NFL history, admitted that very few of his passes were perfect. (Photo by) Klatt: I'm excited to see that you enjoyed it, because some people don't. Some people get into the broadcast booth and they're like, "Absolutely not. I want no part of that." But to see you latch onto this is cool. My last question is, what motivates you now? Brady: "What motivates me now? I think it's always the same, and it has been for a long time: I don't want to let people down. People that work with me, and people that I'm involved with and that I commit to, I always want to feel like I come through and I'm ready to go. I want to be the best I could be for them. My FOX team, I don't want to be the broken wheel, so to speak. So I want to come through. I want to work hard. I want to be able to look at myself in the mirror at the end of the day and go, 'Maybe it wasn't the best, but it wasn't because I was not prepared.' "I prepared my butt off. This is what I want to do. This is what I want to achieve. Whether I hit it or not, like I said, I hit 20 of 700 as a pro who worked on it every day. I'm probably not going to hit it that often, but at least there's a purpose for me waking up every day to go out there and do the best I possibly can. I want to be the best I could be for my kids. I want to be the best I could be for my extended family. "That's just trying to lead a life of integrity and trying to work hard and be prepared and do all the things that I've been so fortunate to do. I see my life. I'm so blessed in everything that I've been able to do." Joel Klatt is FOX Sports' lead college football game analyst and the host of the podcast " The Joel Klatt Show. " Follow him at @joelklatt and subscribe to the "Joel Klatt Show" on YouTube . Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily. share
