Could Jeff Fisher find some redemption at Vanderbilt?

Mostly a punch line as his run as an NFL head coach wound down, could Jeff Fisher find redemption at Vanderbilt?

Jeff Fisher has been out of coaching since he was fired by the Los Angeles Rams during the 2016 season. Since then there have no substantial indications he has been in line for other head coaching jobs, beyond his refuting of a report he was on the verge of taking a job with the XFL’s Houston franchise .

But according to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, Fisher is a potential target for Vanderbilt if they decide to move on from Derek Mason.

In five-plus seasons under Mason, the Commodores are 26-43 and 10-34 in SEC play. They have not finished at or above .500 in any season under him, and it will take four wins in their last five regular season games–at South Carolina, at Florida, Kentucky, East Tennessee State and at Tennessee are on the schedule–to have a chance at finishing .500 this year. Any idea Mason would continue the success James Franklin had is long gone.

It’s worth noting Vanderbilt has a new athletic director in Malcolm Turner, who obviously did not hire Mason. Rittenberg noted that in his report.

"I’m told former Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher is a potential target for Vanderbilt. Fisher remains popular in Nashville, and new Vanderbilt athletic director Malcolm Turner wouldn’t hesitate to make a nontraditional hire."

Fisher of course had a long and reasonably successful tenure as head coach of the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans from 1995-2010, and he apparently still owns property in the Nashville area. He was mentioned fairly consistently years ago as a candidate at USC, his alma mater, but it never seemed too serious. He has never coached at the collegiate level.

Illinois (Lovie Smith) and Arizona State (Herm Edwards) have notably gone the route of hiring an experienced NFL head coach in recent years. Smith seems to have things on a better track this year, while Edwards in on track for a second bowl bid in as many seasons in Tempe. But those guys had college coaching experience in their past, however distantly, while also being out of the box, big-name hires.

Fisher became something of a punch line by the time the Rams fired him. But if he were to go to Vanderbilt, assemble a good coaching staff and bring the program back to some level of success (bowl bids), that might be a special brand of redemption.