MKRob Sports

Not long after the 2008 season ended, Titans Coach Jeff Fisher got a call from the commissioner’s office.

No, Fisher wasn’t being reprimanded for criticizing officials after his team’s playoff loss to Baltimore. Instead, the league called to gauge his interest in traveling overseas to meet service members as part of the inaugural NFL-USO Coaches Tour.

“I was asked to think about it and I didn’t think about it long,” Fisher said. “To me, it’s a privilege to go.”

So Fisher, his team’s offseason minicamps now completed and training camp a month away, is preparing for a week-long trip to the Persian Gulf. He’ll join Giants Coach Tom Coughlin, former Steelers Coach Bill Cowher, Ravens Coach John Harbaugh and former Raiders and Buccaneers Coach Jon Gruden on the morale-building visit overseas.

“I’ve been told many times their gratitude and appreciation for us making the effort is overwhelming and to me that is backward. We are going over there to show our gratitude and appreciation,” Fisher said.

“And everyone that I have talked to that has been over there in recent years, even decades ago, say it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and the experience is one of the best things they have ever done. It is an opportunity for me to go over there and get a perspective of what all those servicemen and women are doing to protect our country. Our relationship with Fort Campbell and the interaction we’ve had over the years, this is an opportunity to take it a step further.”

The Titans have had a strong relationship with the 101st Airborne Division in Fort Campbell, Ky. The team visits the base annually on the Titans Caravan, and Fisher took the entire team to Fort Campbell during training camp in 2006. Also, last season Fisher parachuted to the practice field with several soldiers.

For safety reasons, Fisher said he’s not allowed to talk about specific departure dates, or the exact location of where he’s headed. He hasn’t even been given an itinerary himself. He has, however, been told to pack for warm weather — the average temperature should be between “115 and 130 degrees” each day, he said.