When the University of Florida announced Sunday it had parted ways with football coach Jim McElwain, Memphis coach Mike Norvell quickly emerged as a potential candidate in various national media reports.

Whether that’s actually the case remains to be seen in the coming weeks and months, but Norvell felt compelled to discuss the rumors and the team's rise in notoriety with his current players.

Norvell revealed to reporters Monday that he held a quick team meeting before practice and re-assured the group he is concentrated on what’s taking place in Memphis at the moment.

“People talking nationally about what you’re doing, that’s a positive thing for our program,” Norvell said. “Like I told the players … there’s no distractions. There’s no distractions from anything on the outside. The only thing that’s important to us is every person, player and coach, every individual is 100 percent focused on being 1-0 this week and the only way we can do that is by maximizing today. And so, we address it. I’m open with our team.”

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The Tigers sit atop the American Athletic Conference West division standings and are rising in the national polls after four-straight wins. Memphis is ranked No. 21 in the USA TODAY coaches poll and No. 22 in the Associated Press top 25 rankings heading into Friday’s road game at Tulsa.

It will be a homecoming of sorts for Norvell, who spent four years at Tulsa (2007-2010) during the beginning of his coaching career. He began as a graduate assistant and eventually rose to wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator working under current Auburn coach Gus Malzahn and Arizona State coach Todd Graham.

This pedigree, and the success Memphis is enjoying in Norvell's second year as a head coach, is why he could be an attractive candidate for other power five conference jobs that open up this offseason.

The Tigers are off to a 7-1 start this season, their second-best record through eight games since 1963.

In 2015, Memphis began 8-0 only to finish with losses in four of its final five games as former coach Justin Fuente’s name emerged as a national candidate for other jobs.

Fuente eventually agreed to become the head coach at Virginia Tech, and senior Genard Avery said this year’s team learned from that experience.

He nonetheless appreciated Norvell’s candor Monday morning.

“He was just being honest with us and letting us know. He always [does],” Avery said about the team meeting. “He’s an honest guy and he’s going to let us know what’s real. If anything don’t have anything to do with the team, he’ll let us know. If anything’s going on outside, he’ll always let us know and he’s a great person.”

Avery honored by AAC

For the third-straight week, a member of the Memphis defense earned AAC defensive player of the week honors. This time it was Avery, who finished with eight tackles, 3.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss in the Tigers’ 56-26 win over Tulane last Friday.

Listed as a linebacker, Avery has thrived in recent weeks playing more as a defensive end. The Grenada, Miss., native ranks second on the team with 54 tackles through eight games and leads the Tigers with five sacks this season.

Redshirt sophomore defensive back Austin Hall and freshman cornerback T.J. Carter won the AAC defensive player of the week award the previous two weeks.

Dorceus practices

Senior Doroland Dorceus, the Tigers’ leading rusher last season, participated in practice Monday after missing the past two games due to injury. Dorceus dealt with a hamstring injury to begin this season and then got hurt again while playing on special teams against Navy on Oct. 19.

He has missed four games so far this year and has logged more than two carries just once. But Norvell sounded more optimistic Monday about a potential return this week at Tulsa.

“I hate that he’s missed as much time as he’s missed here in his senior year, but he’s hungry,” Norvell said. “He’s ready to get back out there. We got some work with him today. We’ll see how he responds to that and hopefully we’ll have him available.”