AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — The future of Florida State and Clemson, amid ongoing litigation against the Atlantic Coast Conference, loomed over the ACC spring meetings this week, but commissioner Jim Phillips remained optimistic that those relationships could still be salvaged.
The conference is currently embroiled in multiple lawsuits with Florida State and Clemson as the two schools legally challenge the ACC’s grant of rights and position themselves to possibly leave the conference. At the center of the dispute is the ACC falling behind rival conferences the Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference in revenue, a disparity that will only grow under the new College Football Playoff distribution model.
Florida State and Clemson leaving the ACC has long felt like a fait accompli, only amplified by the multiple lawsuits that have been filed, and yet Phillips, one of the nicest people in a cutthroat industry, insisted that he was going to stay positive about all possible outcomes in the face of mounting evidence of an impending divorce.
“I’m always optimistic about a really good ending on a difficult situation,” Phillips said. “I’ll never change until somebody else tells me differently. Am I going to fight and protect the ACC? Absolutely. I have to do that. That’s my responsibility.”
Phillips came off more bullish about the chances of the relationship being salvaged than Florida State athletic director Michael Alford who was asked a similar question a day earlier. Alford was careful to only speak positively about the great relationships the school enjoyed within the conference and seemed thankful that FSU was included in all meetings this week in Amelia Island. But when asked about whether the marriage could still be saved, Alford said, “We’ll just wait for that to play out” and that “we’ve got to do what’s best for Florida State and look at the changing environment of collegiate athletics and make sure we’re there to be successful.”
The public optimism expressed at the conclusion of the ACC meetings doesn’t mean Phillips isn’t frustrated by the situation, however. He reiterated Wednesday that Florida State and Clemson’s actions aren’t helpful and worried that they are overshadowing all of the positive things happening within the conference.
“It’s difficult, it’s disruptive, it’s harmful but that’s world we live in,” the ACC commissioner said. “They have their ability to do the…
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