Former Titans coach Jeff Fisher, who held the job from 1994 through 2010, plans to take the year off. Completely.
In 2012, however, he plans to return.
“When I wake up in the morning, I’m happy,’' Fisher told Peter King of Sports Illustrated. “It was not an easy decision [to stop coaching], but it was the right decision. My hope is to get back into coaching next year. For now, it’ll be fun to see parts of the year coaches never get to see because we’re always coaching. I’m going to take some time off, play some golf and watch my son play at Auburn.’'
It has been presumed for the past few years that Fisher will have a long line of suitors if and when he becomes available. He became available too late in the 2011 hiring cycle to test that theory. Come next year, it’ll be very interesting to see whether he’s at the top of the “A” list.
Skeptics will point to years of mediocrity with the Titans, along with a string of players who have found lots of trouble off the field (Pacman Jones, Kenny Britt, Albert Haynesworth) and plenty of trouble on it (Cortland Finnegan, Albert Haynesworth). But Fisher has cultivated strong media relationships, and the Competition Committee is by all appearances holding his seat. When the writers and the talkers begin putting Fisher’s name out there for 2012, his candidacy will become a self-fulfilling prophecy -- and we’re confident that someone will hire him.