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You know it’s almost football season when the ACC and other college football league’s host their annual kickoff event in July. The league’s commissioner kicks off the event and every team is represented by the head coach and a few select players.
The ACC Kickoff began Wednesday in Charlotte at the Westin Charlotte with ACC commissioner Jim Phillips taking center stage.
Phillips didn’t break any major news, or give any major updates, but he did discuss the things on everyone’s minds: Super-conferences and NIL.
As for the future of ACC, Phillips said he is exploring all options to keep the league intact, such as expansion and partnerships with others, such as the Pac-10. Phillips also discussed the ACC’s terrible television contract with ESPN.
“Everything is on the table,” Phillips said via David M. Hale of ESPN. “We’re looking at our TV contract. We’re in engagement almost daily with our partners at ESPN. We’ve come together to have some discussions about what would be the next iteration for the ACC. It doesn’t mean we’re not going to make a move, but all options are on the table.”
Not sure what we expected Phillips to say. Unfortunately, there’s nothing he could say that would make fans feel better at this point and time. The ACC grant of rights is helping keep the league intact for now, but how long will it hold up? Phillips touched on that, too.
“Follow the logic,” Phillips said. “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.”
Another big topic is NIL. Since it was implemented, the divide between the top schools and everyone else has grown. Phillips said this is an area where Congress must intervene.
Jim Phillips: “We all know inducements inaccurately described as NIL have upended recruiting.” Says only Congress can properly implement protections. I spoke with Sen. Chris Murphy on this yesterday and he said there’s no appetite among congress to put restrictions on NIL.
— ️♈️ (@ADavidHaleJoint) July 20, 2022
Good luck on anyone leveling the playing field for NIL. While Virginia Tech has a good NIL plan in place, it pales in comparison to what schools like Alabama, LSU and USC, among others, can offer.
Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry, offensive tackle Silas Dzansi, linebacker Dax Hollifield and wide receiver Kaleb Smith will take their turns at the podium Thursday.
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