ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips: "This Is A Reset In College Sports"
CHARLOTTE, NC - ACC Kickoff is officially underway and the best way to start any media day is answering questions about two programs sueing to leave the conference.
Commissioner Jim Phillips answered some important questions about the growth of the Atlantic Coast Conference while also dealing with some of the major changes in the college football world.
The topic of Florida State and Clemson is a sore spot for the commissioner, but that does not change the face that his team and him are working hard to not make it a distraction when trying to focus on football.
"[The ACC] have had six months of disruptions, and I think we have handled it incredibly well. I think it's important to me to lead our group in particular and not only our staff but our schools to compartmentalize the legal piece of what is happening and not let it distract us or take us away from what we are trying to do and that is provide great experience for student athletes, teams, and coaches," Phillips said. "We are have proven that you have to move forward even with these type of distractions and really important issues that are apart of daily lives."
The conversation naturally turned towards the the College Football Playoff and media rights that ESPN and the ACC have in place until 2036 and one of the many reasons FSU and Clemson are suing to leave.
When asked a question about the CYP, he mentioned that this is a reset in college sports and it was important to deal with what's happening this year and not worry about having the additions of team once the three-year trial ends. He continued with ESPN who have worked close with him and his team on improving the coverage of the ACC who says "our relationship couldn't be any stronger."
The ESPN relationship claims to be strong but how are the current relationships with Clemson and Florida State?
Philips thinks highly and could consider some of the people that are over the lawsuit friends and knows that even with the the legal issues this doesn't change anything with his working relationship with them.
"It hasn't changed my working relationship with them at all because of how I have tried to address it and how I have asked the staff to address it. The legal piece will be the the legal piece and we will do what we have to do just like they will have to to," Phillips said.
"[When the lawsuit came] I grabbed the staff and told them that we will not be treating any school any differently, because the student-athletes have nothing to do with this, the coaches have nothing to do with this. We owe the men and women at those two schools the best experience possible," Phillips said. "This thing doesn't have to be evil, this doesn't have to be about hatred. It is important and we have taken out stance and we will stay on that stance and will do it in a respectful way."
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