Auburn's Pearl tells players not to worry about report he'll be fired

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl has told his players to pay no heed to reports that his job is on the line over not cooperating with the school's internal investigation into his program.

"I said, 'Guys, don't worry about it. This is just going through the process,'" Pearl told AL.com's James Crepea.

ESPN reported last week that Pearl is on the hot seat with university administrators for not cooperating with the school's investigation. The probe comes in the wake of the FBI's arrest of 10 people - including Tigers assistant coach Chuck Person - in a wide-ranging NCAA corruption investigation.

"I get up every day and go to work and do the very best I can with what I got," Pearl added. "I try not to listen to whatever the distractions are. We're focused on what's ahead."

Pearl, 57, previously coached at Tennessee. He was fired in 2011 in the wake of an investigation into violations involving then-high school player Aaron Craft.