Graham Neff opens up on speculation of Clemson leaving the ACC

Clemson Tigers athletic director Graham Neff recently opened up on speculation that the school is looking to leave the ACC at some point in the near future.

This comes as Clemson is currently in a lawsuit against the ACC. That has led to plenty of speculation about the future of the school’s athletic programs. At the same time, for now, nothing is set in stone.

“There’s plenty written,” Graham Neff said. “All the speculation, right, I don’t know if I read all of it but it’s part of my job to be very engaged in, sure what’s written, great, but more of where a lot of the moving parts and conversations are nationally. So, we do that.”

Clemson, along with Florida State, is suing the ACC over the conference’s media deal. In particular, it’s Grant of Rights, which locks schools into the media deal and makes it difficult to leave the conference financially.

“I’ll kind of pass on the legal sequencing of that, only to say that we’re going to continue to have our legal team work the legal process with it, act incredibly professional, be great members of the conference we’re in, and be really well read and connected nationally with all of the moving parts. However, those continue to show themselves. It has never been more active just with the national landscape of all the moving parts within college athletics. A lot of what I’ve talked about, not just specifically conference membership,” Neff said.

“So, that’s the A to B to C. Not sure. We’re gonna continue to let the legal process play out. We, Clemson, are going to be great members of the conference we’re in. That starts with me but all of our coaches our student-athletes and institution, and also be really well read and engaged nationally. That’s incredibly important.”

This comes following recent comments that ACC commissioner Jim Phillips recently made during an interview with SportsCenter where he said the conference has “never been stronger as a league.” He also pointed out that, regarding Clemson and Florida State’s lawsuits, the conference is going to fight them.

Graham Neff addresses relationship with ACC, Jim Phillips amid ongoing lawsuit

Graham Neff shared where his relationship stands with ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips amid the ongoing lawsuit that could create plenty of tension.

“Commissioner Phillips, I thought, had some really appropriate and shared perspective and comments at football media days in July about his lens on just the professional nature of the relationships and what his role is and what athletic directors’ roles are and my role is,” Neff said.

“We’re going to continue to act, and I couldn’t have felt more supported from his chair in the day-to-day and with my, certainly, colleagues around the ACC table, so to speak.”