ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips Defends Old Collegiate Model at Media Day Opener

Phillips' comments failed to address concerns from the ACC's middle class - schools like Pitt that will have to struggle for elite status should the league break.

PITTSBURGH -- ACC Football Media Days arrived this year with a heap of anxiety in tow. Change is the theme of the event after a year of unrest in the conference. In actual football terms, the league looks as wide open as ever after the Pitt Panthers became the first league champion from North of Clemson, South Carolina since 2010. Meanwhile, a radical round of conference realignment waits on the doorstep. 

Commissioner Jim Phillips spoke first and defended the current collegiate model. He maintained that the ACC is in a strong position, despite the rapidly growing power and clout of the SEC and Big 10. But Phillips did little to address the concerns of the conference's middle class - schools like Pitt that will have to struggle for a spot in one of the super leagues should the ACC fall apart. 

Phillips' comments were full of posturing. It came as no surprise that he thinks there is 'no better conference in the country than the ACC', but that idea seems to be stuck in the past, given how quickly the Big 10 and SEC have outpaced them in annual revenue. On Wednesday morning, Phillips touted a vision of college sports that was partially detached from that reality. He said college sports is 'not the NFL or NBA-lite' and thinks coexistence between the power conferences is not just possible but ideal for everyone involved. 

'I will continue to do what's in the best interest of the ACC, but will also strongly advocate for college athletics to be a healthy neighborhood, not a two or three gated communities,' Phillips said. 'Resources may be different, but access, education, and competitive opportunity will remain the foundation going forward.'

But college sports has become an inherent competition for money and influence. The ACC has been put at odds with the Big 12, which is simultaneously pushing to establish itself as the "other" major college sports league, secondary to the Power Two. 

The ACC appears to have gained some temporary breathing room in that contest. Reports claim that talks of a merger or partnership between the Big 12 and Pac 12 have fallen through. 

What's more, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said that his league will not incur on others' grant-of-right agreement, squashing rumors that the SEC would try to help ACC powers like Clemson or Florida State circumnavigate that binding deal witht the conference, which runs through 2036, so they can join the SEC. 

It's because of that fact that Phillips felt somewhat confident that the ACC will be able to retain its most prominent members. He cited USC, UCLA, Texas and Oklahoma's collective decision to wait until their own grant-of-rights agreement runs out to move conferences. 

'People talked about Oklahoma and Texas leaving immediately. I think that's pretty well-stated now that that's not the case,' Phillips said. 'Listening to UCLA and USC at the end of June, ... they clearly are going to stay in the PAC-12 until their grant of rights is over. ... I would think that the significance of what that would mean, the television rights that the conference owns as well as a nine-figure financial penalty, I think it holds, but your guess is as good as mine.'

The ACC is now using that time to figure out ways in which it can close the glaring gap in revenue that exists between them and the new Power Two. Phillips said that 'all options are on the table', with improving the ACC's television contract with ESPN at the top of the list ahead. 

'We're looking at our TV contract. We're in engagement daily -- almost daily with our partners at ESPN,' Phillips said. 'They're motivated, we're motivated. We've come together to have some discussions about what would be the next iteration for the ACC. It doesn't mean we're going to make a move. It doesn't mean we're not going to make a move, but all options are on the table.'

Phillips added that expansion is another tool that could be used to close the revenue gap, but steered away from treating it like a cure-all. He again cited his 'healthy neighborhoods' philosophy and said that the ACC won't expand for expansion's sake. 

'I don't know that [expansion is] the only solution. I think you have to look creatively,' Phillips said. 'We've been doing that over the last year. We're going to continue to do that. ... Making a move just to make a move doesn't make sense.'

Notre Dame, currently an ACC member in many of it's non-football sports, is one of the only schools still unclaimed by a conference that is capable of moving anyone's revenue needle but Irish officials have repeatedly committed to protecting its football independent status for the foreseeable future. Phillips said that the ACC would love to add Notre Dame as a full member, but doesn't see that happening anytime soon. 

'They know how we feel. They know that we would love to have them as a football member in the conference, but we also and I also respect their independence. I know what independence means to Notre Dame. ... I know that if there comes a time that Notre Dame would consider moving to a conference and away from independence, I feel really good about it being the ACC.'

Pushing for expansion of the College Football Playoff field and incentive-based, unequal revenue sharing are other options being considered, according to Phillips. 

Phillips reaffirmed his commitment to the old order of college sports. His self-admitted idealist vision for the future is the official position of the ACC, and Phillips claims that his fellow Division I commissioners feel the same way. 

'I think we all understand we have a deeper responsibility than our own conference,' Phillips said. 'We're going to have to continue to work together, and I'm optimistic about us being able to do that.'

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