Ex-Arizona Wildcat Chuck Cecil gauging his coaching options
by Anthony Gimino on Oct. 01, 2011, under Arizona football, Sports
Chuck Cecil spent the past two seasons as the defensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans.
Arizona Wildcats legend Chuck Cecil is sitting out this season from coaching but has his eye on a return to the NFL.
In the meantime, he has done some work as a college football game analyst for the ESPN networks as a way to “keep your head in the game,” he said this week. “I might do a few more.”
Cecil was fired as the defensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans in January after spending 10 years in the organization.
“No question about it,” Cecil, 46, said of his desire to coach in the NFL.
“We’ll see next year. It’s a crazy, crazy business. I would not rule out college at this point, but I think I’d like to try the NFL first.”
Cecil, an All-American safety at Arizona in the late 1980s and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, said he was contacted last winter by Wildcats coach Mike Stoops after he was let go by the Titans.
Stoops was gauging Cecil’s interest in coaching the UA secondary after Duane Akina returned to Texas in February after only a few weeks on the job.
“I was flattered,” Cecil said. “It just wasn’t good, time-wise. It wouldn’t have been fair to keep him hanging on.
“I love Tucson, and I love the fans, and when I think of my long-term, down-the-road plans, I would love to coach there.”
