South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw (14) tries to elude the tackle of Tennessee’s Herman Lathers.KNOXVILLE – The walls of the Neyland-Thompson Sports Complex are thick, but they’re far from soundproof.
As the University of Tennessee football team enters the final month of the regular season, the Volunteers must keep the outside distractions from winding a way inside, although questions and speculation publicly swirl about the program’s future.
Embattled third-year coach Derek Dooley said last month he mentions it to his players, and it’s a message he’s likely reiterated to his team after a winless October stretch.
“He doesn’t really speak much on the outside chatter, but he just talks about us being a close-knit bunch and us staying together,” senior linebacker Herman Lathers said. “We’ve got to be together no matter what anybody says on the outside. We’re a real close team.
“We don’t really think about the distractions on the outside or what the chatter is about coaching changes and all that. We’ve got to live for the moment. Whatever happens happens, but we’re just living for it right now and trying to get to a bowl game.”