Jim Phillips discusses the strength of ACC football, the need for teams to start strong

It’s been two seasons since the ACC sent a team to the College Football Playoff. Because of that, there is pressure on the conference’s top teams to return to the CFP even though Commissioner Jim Phillips is confident with the ACC’s football.

During the 2023 ACC Football Kickoff, Phillips admitted that the conference tends to beat up on itself. He also gave his thoughts on schools like Clemson and Florida State trying to capitalize on their expectations for the season.

“Good question,” Jim Phillips said. “I think for all of us you get into the competitive ACC season, and it’s a little bit cannibalization. So, your point of differentiation for all conferences, it ends up being the non-conference games. So, we have to get off to a really good start.”

This season, Florida State plays a marquee non-conference game against LSU to open the season. A win would likely go a long way toward the Seminoles’ resume at the end of the year. Clemson, meanwhile, will have games against Notre Dame and South Carolina.

“It doesn’t negate having a really good season, if you don’t, but if you stumble once or twice it’s really difficult to overcome that. So, you mentioned a couple of our teams, and I think we have a whole host of others that also can have a really good season,” Jim Phillips said.

“Sometimes our ranked teams act just like that and perform right off the gate in a high level, but sometimes those teams that aren’t ranked or are maybe at the bottom of the top 25 really start to gel. So, I’m really excited about it. I’ve had a chance to really dig in this summer about our rosters and love our coaches as always, but I think, Andrea, with the schools you mentioned, you know, Florida State and Clemson getting a lot of opportunities, I think we have a bunch of others that can also get off to a good start and show that the league is a really, really good football league.”

Despite not making the College Football Playoff since the 2020 season, Jim Phillips did want to emphasize that the ACC has had more success in the CFP than any conference other than the SEC.

“I mention in my remarks about the CFP. I just think sometimes it’s lost because of whatever narrative is out there. We’re second most in titles and appearances in the CFP, and I think that equates in modern day football to having success.”

Jim Phillips is positive about the ACC’s future

One thing that Jim Phillips wanted to emphasize was that, despite concerns about the media deal, the ACC is in a good place overall.

“This league is healthy. It just is. And certainly, there are rumblings again. We all saw what happened in the springtime. But the group has come together in a way to me that demonstrates they want to work together to find solutions,” Jim Phillips said.

“The ESPN partnership is really strong. And ESPN and the ACC are completely motivated together to generate additional dollars. You see that the conference presidents and chancellors have initiated the Success Initiative and Success Incentive Initiative, which is going to distribute dollars in a disproportionate way. We’ve never gone down that road before in the ACC, and I’m not sure many conferences have. And so, revenue generation continues to be a priority.”