CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It took longer than it should have. Longer than the ACC could afford, certainly. Possibly too long for the league, at least in its current iteration, to endure.
But finally, welcome to the game, Jim Phillips — one where the harsh financial realities of modern college athletics reign supreme, and where well-intentioned naivete to the contrary is basically a death sentence.
It isn’t Phillips’ fault that he became ACC commissioner in 2021, less than six months before the earthquake that is conference realignment shook the soul — and any loose change — out of college sports. But was it unfortunate timing? Surely. One of the key reasons the ACC picked Phillips to succeed John Swofford in the first place was his unrelenting belief in the soul of all this: in education, in the value of opportunities for young people, in geographic proximity and regional rivalries that bind our communities together.
“This is not and should not be a winner-take-all or a zero-sum structure,” Phillips said at ACC media days in 2022. “College athletics has never been elitist or singularly commercial. It’s provided countless individuals with a path to higher education — and therefore, life-changing possibilities, access, opportunity at a modern rules-based structure, should all remain a priority as we continue to evolve.”
Welp.
Phillips’ lofty ideals, honed during his 15-plus years as an athletic director, were never misguided — but once the pursuit of television dollars became college sports’ north star, they quickly grew outdated. Still, Phillips swam upstream against that current as long as he could. Were those efforts well-meaning, or wide-eyed? Realistically, both.
For comparison, consider Brett Yormark’s comments from his debut appearance as Big 12 commissioner, also back in the summer of 2022: “My preference is to disrupt and not be disrupted,” Yormark told The Athletic then. “I spent a lot of time with the board talking about opportunities we should explore together, especially opportunities that drive and diversify revenue. And they were very much in favor of it. So we’re gonna go in that direction.”
One of these things, obviously, is not like the other, and that disparity has been reflected in the actions of the two conferences vying for third-place behind the proverbial Big 2. One pillaged the Pac-12’s best remaining programs after Oregon and Washington bolted for the Big Ten, solidifying the nation’s best basketball conference in the process … while the other added two Pac-12 programs with a 41-67 record the last five seasons.
One conference has always been “open for business.” One has two of its league members — its two football powerhouses, at that — suing to leave as quickly (and cheaply) as possible.
About that upstream swim. After a while, it gets exhausting, at which point you either ride with the current, or risk going under.
Phillips, clearly — finally — has chosen the former. For the sake of the ACC’s survival, he had to.
“We will fight to protect the ACC and our members for as long as it takes,” Phillips said Monday, in his most impassioned public comments to date as commissioner. “Forceful moments deserve forceful support and leadership.”
Phillips’ comments Monday, and the league’s actions entering this athletic year, reflect an operation that finally gets it. Case in point: For the first time in power conference history, the ACC will implement a “success initiative” this year that rewards programs for on-field/on-court performance. It is, in layman’s terms, an unequal revenue distribution model, one that (in theory) puts more dollars into the hands of the schools that invest more in athletics. That extra $20-25 million per year — which Phillips confirmed is the maximum amount schools are able to earn under the initiative — isn’t guaranteed, but the opportunity to earn it can absolutely help mitigate the revenue gap between the ACC and the Big 2.
Similarly, amid reports that the Big 12 is considering selling its naming rights as an alternate revenue generator, Phillips did not outright deny that the ACC is considering the same. “I wouldn’t be doing my job,” he said, “if we aren’t exploring every area (of revenue generation) that’s available.”
(Considering the “Atlantic Coast” Conference now stretches to Texas and California, what holiness is left in preserving that name? Come on down, Allstate Coca-Cola Conference!)
The ACC welcomed in three new members this summer to balloon to 17 teams ahead of the 2024 season. (Jim Dedmon / USA Today)
This is not to say that Phillips has fully swung to the Greg Sankey or Yormark end of the commissioner spectrum. He still voiced his belief that college athletes are students, not employees, and plainly stated he’s against the latter. He still lauded the ACC’s impressive academic institutions. He defended former commissioner John Swofford against personal attacks — Swofford was commissioner when the ACC signed its current grant of rights, which runs through 2036 — and maintained that all is well with ESPN, even though the network has a look-in period in February 2025 where it can opt-out of its current TV contract with the league.
But from 2022 to now? No one can accuse Phillips of having his head in the sand any longer, of being Pollyanna-ish to a detrimental degree.
“We’ve made some really good adjustments,” he said succinctly.
That there really isn’t a place in college athletics anymore for folks like Phillips circa-2022 is… not great. We used to celebrate great players and teams for what they actually achieved, rather than anyone’s professional potential. But at the same time, mourning bygone eras won’t help the ACC win court cases in 2024 (or whatever year in the future they’re actually litigated).
It is still far too early to know what actually becomes of the ACC. Will either Clemson or Florida State, or both, tell the conference by the Aug. 15 deadline that they intend to exit the league before the 2025-26 athletic year? (Doubtful, according to multiple reports, but don’t write it in pen until Aug. 16.) Will ESPN opt out of its current television contract with the ACC during its February 2025 “look-in,” which would set in motion another wave of realignment? Will the league actually take up any of these proposed revenue streams, if not to close the gap with the Big 2 entirely but to at least diminish it?
TBD on all three.
But the ACC, and its commissioner, clearly now understands the game, and whether it wants to or not, it’s willing to play.
“This has been a league that started way before me, 71 years ago, and it will be a league that will be around a long time after I depart,” Phillips said. “I’m confident in our direction.”
(Photo: Jim Dedmon / USA Today)
