Drew Weatherford shares concern ACC schools could be come 'irrelevant' without swift changes

Florida State has been one of the biggest schools to watch after the latest round of conference realignment. The Seminoles made it clear they’re willing to look at other options besides staying in the ACC even though the Aug. 15 deadline to give notice of a 2024 departure came and went.

But, according to former FSU quarterback and current Board of Trustees member Drew Weatherford, time could be of the essence.

“Frankly, from the FSU and kind of Seminole Nation, everyone I think gets the way this plays out if we don’t figure something out,” Weatherford said on The Paul Finebaum Show Friday. “And I’ll go as far to say we’ll be irrelevant — not only ourselves. I actually think all ACC schools will be irrelevant if we don’t figure something out in the near future.”

Weatherford was a key voice during Florida State’s board meeting last month, saying “it’s a matter of how and when” the Seminoles eventually leave the ACC. The league is locked in to a grant of rights deal through 2036, which appears to be keeping it together as conferences such as the Big 12 and Big Ten move to 16 and 18 teams, respectively, in 2024.

But the biggest issue, according to Weatherford, comes down to competitive balance. He expressed concern about whether ACC teams can be competitive in the NIL era and as TV deal payouts skyrocket. The Big Ten is set to make $7 billion over seven years and the SEC is preparing for payouts upward of $300 million per year.

That’s why Weatherford wondered how much board members at other conference schools worry about the state of the game.

“If I’m a board of trustee member at North Carolina or Virginia or at Clemson or at Miami or if I’m an ex-player, which I’m obviously the next player at Florida State, I would be very concerned about whether or not my alma mater is going to be able to compete,” Drew Weatherford said. “The athletes that I’ve talked to from other schools — that I’ll leave nameless — they get it. I think the fans get it. The administration, on the other hand, at other schools, I think get it but aren’t necessarily willing to say it.

“We felt like as an institution and as one of the — we’d like to think, a leader in the ACC — that it was our responsibility to honestly just shine a light on the reality of the situation. We are not the only ones that are disappointed with the current agreement. I know that for a fact. And I know that there’s plenty of other schools that realize that this is an existential threat and they’re trying to figure out, although they might not be as vocal as we are about it, they’re trying to find a solution.”