In wake of lawsuits filed by FSU, Clemson, commissioner Jim Phillips plans 'to fight to protect the ACC'

At the outset of an ACC football season that will play out unlike any that came before it — with lawsuits filed against the conference by two of its marquee members while teams prepare to fly cross-country to play games — commissioner Jim Phillips said Monday he will “fight to protect the ACC and our members for as long as it takes.”

Phillips spoke Monday at the ACC Football Kickoff event in Charlotte, N.C., about how the league is handling lawsuits filed by Florida State and Clemson — and the league’s countersuits — while questions have surfaced across college athletics about the ACC’s future.

“We are confident in this league and that it will remain a premier conference in college athletics for the long-term future,” he said at a news conference televised by the ACC Network. “These disputes continue to be extremely damaging, disruptive and incredibly harmful to the league. This conference is bigger than any one school or schools.”

Uneasy about the revenue gap between the ACC, SEC and Big Ten that is largely tied to television revenue, Florida State and Clemson filed lawsuits challenging their league’s withdrawal penalty and grant-of-rights agreement that each school signed. The agreement binds members to the league through 2036.

Phillips said Monday that Florida State and Clemson “eagerly agreed to our current television contract and the launch of the ACC Network.”

“The ACC, our collective membership and conference office deserve better.”

Phillips’ comments were his strongest since the issue first surfaced when Florida State filed its lawsuit seven months ago.

“Forceful moments deserve forceful support and leadership,” the commissioner said. “This is a really important time for the conference. Either you believe in what’s been signed or you don’t.

“This is 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. This league deserves us to take this really serious issue and handle it appropriately.”

Meanwhile, he said he insists on maintaining civil discourse with his Florida State and Clemson colleagues.

“The legal piece will be the legal piece. We’ll do what we have to do, just like they’re going to do what they have to do,” he said. “I told the (ACC) staff, ‘We are not going to treat any school any differently. Student-athletes have nothing to do with this. Coaches have nothing to do with this. A lot of administrators don’t. We owe these young men and women at those two schools the very best experience possible.’

“This thing doesn’t have to be evil. This thing doesn’t have to be about hatred and all the other things that we all see just free-flowing in our society. It’s important, and we’ve taken our stance and we’ll stay on that stance, but we’ll do it in a very respectful way.”

Phillips said he continues to look “at all options as it relates to revenue.”

“I wouldn’t be doing my job if we aren’t exploring every area that’s available. The ACC has never been a league that’s led in revenue generation and distribution. But we’ve had an incredible span of success. This will be about creativity and innovation for our schools and for our league.”

Expansion to 18 schools (17 for football), with California, Stanford and SMU joining this academic year, will create a pool of between $50 million and $60 million annually to divide among ACC membership, ESPN.com reported. Some of that money will be put into a pool for success initiatives, which are based on performance in revenue-generating postseason competition. All other revenues will continue to be equally shared.

“As we walk through it, it will reward those teams that have the most success,” Phillips said. “It’s not an absolute correlation, but those who invest more have a higher chance for success.”

While noting “we have to look at ways to close the revenue gap,” Phillips asked rhetorically, “Are we chasing dollars or are we chasing success? Having the most money has never meant that you are going to win the most.”

All 17 schools, including Pitt, are sending coaches and players to this week’s four-day ACC Kickoff event.