Jim Phillips: There's not a more exciting collection of teams than in the ACC

ACC Media Days are underway. With that, Commissioner Jim Phillips spoke to the press, arguing that the ACC currently has the most exciting collection of teams in the country.

For Phillips, what makes the conference exciting starts with its coaches. There is a collection of talented coaches in the league that means players are both going to be developed and used as well as possible by those excellent coaches.

“All of these are the most of any conference,” Jim Phillips said. “We have elite coaching leadership, six ACC head coaches named to the 2024 Dodd Trophy pre-season watch list. No conference has more. Two of the three active coaches in the country to win a national title reside here in the ACC: Mack Brown and Dabo Swinney. The combination of our proven veteran coaches combined with our dynamic young coaches is incredibly powerful.”

The ACC has been one of the most successful conferences in the College Football Playoff era, sending eight teams to the Playoff with Clemson winning it all twice. A lot of that success has come under great quarterback play, which the conference should again have in 2024.

“The ACC is the conference of quarterbacks. 13 enter the season with over 20 career touchdown passes and 3500 career passing yards. Eight quarterbacks are projected to start week one in the 2024 NFL season; 25% of NFL teams,” Phillips said.

“And since 2018, at least one quarterback has been drafted in the first round in five different drafts, the only conference that can state that claim. ACC football has the nation’s top returning passer and receiver in yards per game last year in Cam Ward of Miami and Caullin Lacy of Louisville. Plus the second returning rusher in Omarion Hampton from North Carolina.”

One of the biggest things that Jim Phillips turned to is the depth of the ACC. That’s something that’s demonstrated by the conference’s success in those Playoff rankings.

“Additionally, when you look at the CFP top 25 rankings over the last four years, there are only seven programs that have been in each, with Clemson and NC State representing the ACC,” Phillips said. “No conference has more teams that can state that claim.”

Jim Phillips made his argument about the excitement and talent of the ACC at a critical time for the conference and all the conferences are jockeying for position and prestige moving forward. At the same time, whether or not his argument is proven to be true will be decided on the field in 2024.

“The combination of our preeminent players and elite leadership only furthers expectations on what’s ahead for our individual teams and conference,” Phillips said. “There’s not a more exciting collection of teams in the country than in the ACC.”