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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Sport
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The ACC has moved past lawsuits and uncertainty. Commissioner Jim Phillips sees stable years ahead
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, with ACC commissioner Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner Jim Phillips by his sides, looks on after winning the ACC championship NCAA college football game between Clemson and SMU, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman, File) Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, with ACC commissioner Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner Jim Phillips by his sides, looks on after winning the ACC championship NCAA college football game between Clemson and SMU, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman, File) Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, with ACC commissioner Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner Jim Phillips by his sides, looks on after winning the ACC championship NCAA college football game between Clemson and SMU, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman, File) CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jim Phillips stood in the same spot Tuesday morning that he did exactly one year earlier as he officially opened the Atlantic Coast Conference's preseason football media days. Only now, the message and tone is far different. Advertisement The league has successfully quelled a rebellion in the form of the lawsuits by member schools Clemson and Florida State, which represented a threat fueling doomsayers' chatter about the league's long-term stability. Instead, the settlement that ended the legal fight spawned a new revenue-distribution model set to benefit the league's biggest brands. There was also ESPN's extension on its long-running partnership with the league. And that sends the ACC into the 2025-26 sports season with the closest thing to peace as a college landscape churning with constant change can muster. In an interview with The Associated Press, Phillips described recent months as 'the restabilization of a great league that went through a very bumpy period.' He also talked about working to 'make this a league that teams want to be in, not have to be in" at the start of the revenue-sharing era. 'We're as healthy of a league as we've ever been based on having to go through some really tough moments,' Phillips told the AP. Advertisement 'I give our presidents/board credit for it, and I give our ADs a ton of credit for it as well. ... So we've moved away from some of the legal issues that we've had and now we've been able to work on things that I think have been put on the backburner.' A summer earlier, FSU, Clemson and the league were entangled in a crossfire of lawsuits over the ACC's ability to charge hundreds of millions of dollars in exit fees for schools that leave for another league. That came amid the backdrop of the ACC's financial conundrum. The league annually posts record revenue hauls ($711.4 million for 2023-24, with football-playing members receiving nearly $45 million). It also keeps lagging behind the Big Ten ($928.1 million revenue, $63.1 million payout) and Southeastern Conference ($839 million, $52.6 million), though it ranks firmly third among the Power Four leagues ahead of the Big 12 ($493.8 million, $39.5 million). Had the Clemson or FSU lawsuits proceeded, there was potential a ruling might defang the league's exit fees. Or its grant-of-rights deal, signed by all ACC schools to give the conference control of their media rights — and the TV money that comes with them — as a deterrent to moving elsewhere. Advertisement Either could have triggered more teams to exit and chase revenue elsewhere, with the 2024 disintegration of the Pac-12 offering a worst-case harbinger. The stakes were clear last summer when Phillips took an assertive stance that was downright pugilistic by his own measured-tone standards in promising the league would fight 'as long as it takes.' He now touts a successful 'reconciliation' and what he calls 'a really good story about the ACC." 'People had various opinions about how unstable it was — I never felt ever that it was going to lose its way or anything like that," Phillips said. "It was never going to have the demise that I had heard that may happen. I never believed that for a second. 'But you have a staff that you're dealing with. You have other schools that you're dealing with. So to me, part of my responsibility was to be incredibly level and strong and unwavering about (how) we would get to the place that we're experiencing now, where we have stability.' Advertisement ESPN's decision in January to pick up its base-rights option through 2035-36 provided a key perception boost, aligning that deal's timeline with a second covering the partnership for the ACC Network. The legal settlement followed in March, featuring a revised revenue-distribution model incorporating TV viewership as a way for top programs to make more money. Throw in the last season's implementation of a 'success initiative' allowing teams to keep money generated by their own postseason success, and big-brand names like Clemson and FSU in football, or Duke, North Carolina and Louisville in basketball, have avenues to offset the gap with Big Ten or SEC peers. That said, it didn't sound like the legal fight produced constant stress at the team level. Miami coach Mario Cristobal said he never focused on uncertainty surrounding the conference's future, while linebacker Wesley Bissainthe and offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa said they essentially knew nothing about the lawsuits. Advertisement 'I live in a cave,' Mauigoa said with a grin. Still, reaching resolution was a welcome sign all the same. "For me," Virginia coach Tony Elliott said, 'really to see the commissioner stand up there and have confidence and say the things he's said just gives me confidence.' Longer-term questions await, though. The settlement included a rollback of the ACC's grant-of-rights provision that ensured schools would bring no TV value to a new league. It also created a schedule of declining exit fees from its current nine-figure status to $75 million for the 2030-31 season, then leveling off there through the duration of the ESPN deals. Advertisement That 2031 date would largely align with expiration of media deals for the Big Ten (2029-30 season) and the Big 12 (2030-31), while the SEC's deal runs through 2033-34. That confluence could set up a potential countdown for massive realignment impacting all Power Four leagues, maybe even through the formation of super league. Asked about that looming potential, Phillips could only chuckle. 'We're trying to get through this next year," he said, 'and all the rest of it.' ___ AP college football: and
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Can Clemson reach CFP title game? Joel Klatt makes bold prediction on Tigers 2025 season
Fox Sports lead analyst Joel Klatt is another prominent college football voice who's high on the Clemson Tigers entering the 2025 season. Klatt, who had Clemson at No. 5 in his post-spring top 25 rankings in May and named Cade Klubnik the top quarterback in the nation entering 2025, offered fresh praise for the Tigers and coach Dabo Swinney on Monday. In a "College Football Stock Watch" segment on his popular video podcast, "The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast," Klatt called Clemson the No. 1 team he was buying stock in heading into the new season. Klatt explained why he's so high on the Tigers with only six Saturdays remaining until the season begins. 'Clemson is just really, really good,' Klatt says of Tigers "Clemson is just really, really good. I think they're going to have an outstanding year," Klatt reiterated Monday. "They finished with 10 (wins) last year, snuck into the playoffs. They beat SMU in that championship game, gave Texas everything they could handle. Dabo seems to have, like, this confidence back." "They bring back 16 starters from last year's group," Klatt continued. "Klubnik is back. Third season as a starter, third season with his offensive coordinator, Garrett Riley. Four returning starters on the offensive line. They're going to be seniors. I think the real question is running back. Gideon Davidson is a guy that's a top five running back. He will be a true freshman. I think he could have an impact for them." Klatt shifted to the Tigers' defense and highlighted first-year defensive coordinator Tom Allen. "Defense: loaded. Going to be one of the best defenses in the entire country," Klatt said. "New defensive coordinator, Tom Allen, he's in at DC after coming in from Penn State. They've got T.J. Parker, they've got Peter Woods, they've got Avieon Terrell at corner, Sammy Brown (at linebacker)." Klatt believes 'loaded' Clemson could reach CFP title game Klatt said that he was "toying" with the idea of naming Clemson a preseason pick to reach the national championship game in Miami. "This is a team that will, for sure, be in the playoff and I think could make a deep run. I'll be pretty surprised if this is not a team in the (CFP) semifinals. And you know what? I'm toying around with, in my bracket, putting them as a team playing for the national championship. We'll just see who they play. I think Clemson is going to be incredible and again, trending upward from last season." Klatt shares the belief held by many that the Tigers' schedule sets up nicely and that their toughest games come at the beginning and end of the regular season. "This team is going to be loaded, and it's not a very difficult schedule. You could make a strong argument that their two most difficult games are non-conference games. They're going to have LSU in the opener, and they're going to have South Carolina (Nov. 29). I think both of those are tougher than any game they have on the rest of their schedule. "In the ACC, they don't play Miami. They get SMU at home. They have road games at Georgia Tech and Louisville, so I think the toughest games are ... LSU, that's at home, Georgia Tech that's on the road, SMU at home, at Louisville, and then at South Carolina. Klatt names North Carolina, Bill Belichick as 2025 college football 'buy' Klatt's segment, featuring five teams he was buying and five he was selling for 2025, included the North Carolina Tar Heels, who Clemson will visit on Oct. 4 in Chapel Hill. While he admits to waffling a bit on UNC, Klatt said there were two reasons he ultimately decided to buy in on the Tar Heels and first-year coach Bill Belichick: "trust and schedule." "My (final) buy is North Carolina because I trust their coach, and they play a really favorable schedule," Klatt said before adding, "This team has a lot of transfers and it's really difficult to project what this roster is going to do. So again, this is more of a bet on Bill Belichick. "I don't think Bill Belichick cares what all the noise is this offseason. I really don't... I think he cares about getting this roster, the team, the players, to believe that they can go out there and just do their job. If you do that, in that conference against that schedule, I don't think anyone is running away from them. So there's a good chance that this is a team that's going to be in a lot of games that they play." Klatt praised UNC transfer quarterback Gio Lopez from South Alabama. "Bill, along with guys like Nick Saban, will talk a lot about the fact that more games are lost in college football than won," Klatt said. "So it's not that you've got to go out there and be better than everybody. It's just that you've got to go out there and not beat yourself. You've got to be better than you. He understands that and in a lot of ways, that was The Patriot Way: don't make mistakes, be methodical. "That's my reason for optimism, I think he can convince this roster to do that and if he does, they will be in and probably win a lot more games than you anticipate this next season." Clemson football schedule 2025 Clemson opens the 2025 season against the LSU Tigers at Memorial Stadium in prime time on Aug. 30. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ABC. All times Eastern. Aug. 30: vs. LSU (7:30 p.m., ABC) Sept. 6: vs. Troy (3:30 p.m., ACC Network) Sept. 13: at Georgia Tech (12 p.m. ET, ABC or ESPN) Sept. 20: vs. Syracuse Oct. 4: at North Carolina Oct. 11: at Boston College Oct. 18: vs. SMU Nov. 1: vs. Duke Nov. 8: vs. Florida State Nov. 14: at Louisville (8 p.m., ESPN) Nov. 22: vs. Furman Nov. 29: at South Carolina (12 p.m. ET, ABC or ESPN) Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions. This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson football, Dabo Swinney could reach CFP title game, Klatt says
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Clemson dominates USA TODAY Sports' 2025 All-ACC preseason football team list
Clemson on top? USA TODAY Sports' ACC writers and experts unveil predicted order of finish for 2025 football season. USA TODAY Sports is riding high on the Clemson Tigers ahead of the 2025 college football season. On Monday, a total of nine Clemson players were named to USA TODAY Sports' All-ACC preseason team. Moreover, Dabo Swinney was named preseason Coach of the Year while quarterback Cade Klubnik was tabbed preseason Player of the Year in the ACC. The preseason all-conference team was voted on by regional USA TODAY Sports writers who cover the 17 ACC schools. Those writers also made predictions for the 2025 ACC football season with their projected order of finish. Here's a look at the nine Clemson selections on USA TODAY Sports' All-ACC preseason football team, as well as where the Tigers landed in the network's predicted order of finish. Clemson offense lands four players on USA TODAY Sports' All-ACC preseason football team Five Clemson Tigers garner All-ACC preseason football defensive honors ACC football projected order of finish, per USA TODAY Sports Clemson sweeps preseason Coach, Player of the Year awards USA TODAY Sports' preseason awards also include Coach of the Year, Player of the Year, and Newcomer of the Year. Clemson football schedule 2025 Clemson will open the 2025 season against the LSU Tigers at Memorial Stadium in prime time on Aug. 30. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ABC. All times Eastern. Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How Clemson football's Dabo Swinney mistook LSU's Brian Kelly for a country singer this summer
CLEMSON — Somehow Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney confused his Week 1 coaching opponent with a musician while on vacation this summer. Swinney said July 15 during Clemson's preseason availability that he and his wife, Kathleen, visited Grayton Beach in Florida with one of his brothers and his wife, who informed Dabo and Kathleen that Brian Kelley was having a concert there, and the musician's wife also has a gift shop there. Assuming it was LSU coach Brian Kelly, Dabo said Kathleen purchased an item to support the shop, and Dabo took pictures of the concert stage and imagery and sent them to his first-week opponent. It wasn't until Dabo Swinney's brother's friend told Kathleen it was Brian Kelley, the country singer from the group Florida Georgia Line, that they realized their mistake. "Kath goes, 'Babe, it's Brian Kelley. He's a singer with the Florida Georgia Line,' and I went 'What?' " Dabo Swinney said. "I've been firing all these pictures off to Brian Kelly. He's probably over there saying, 'What is this dude doing?' " Swinney admitted the LSU coach was probably confused about the context of the photos but he had responded to the messages anyway, saying something along the lines of "You can't get away from Brian Kelly." How could he? It is one of the most anticipated matchups this season. Clemson hosts LSU on Aug. 30 (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) at Memorial Stadium. Both teams have quarterbacks with Heisman Trophy hopes (Clemson's Cade Klubnik, LSU's Garrett Nussmeier) and Hall of Fame-level coaching. Klubnik said last month that he began preparing for the marquee game during the first week of July. Kelly also has emphasized the importance of this matchup, saying at SEC media days on July 14 that Clemson's logo has been plastered on workout bags at LSU's facility this summer for motivation. MORE: Our suggestions for Clemson as revenue sharing starts from alcohol deals to Memorial Stadium concerts "We've got a Clemson paw print on the bags that we hit every day," Kelly said. "It's on every monitor in the building to go 1-0. I think it was important to have a tangible, specific goal for us to start the season." Kelly, who is 0-3 in Week 1 games in his LSU tenure, said Tiger Stadium is the real "Death Valley," which is what Clemson calls Memorial Stadium. His comments didn't seem to bother Swinney. "It ain't gonna have nothing to do with blocking and tackling and executing it on game day, so it makes it fun, but just go focus on what we gotta do," Swinney said. He said he will share a laugh with Kelly if he sees the video of Swinney talking about the case of mistaken identity. He also has extended an invite to Florida Georgia Line's Brian Kelley to come perform at Clemson. Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@ and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00 This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson football: How Dabo Swinney mistook LSU's Brian Kelly for singer
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Meet the USA TODAY Sports Network's preseason All-ACC football team for 2025
Will Clemson football add a 23rd ACC championship trophy to its collection in 2025? Our team of USA TODAY Sports Network experts who cover the league thinks so. The Tigers lead the ACC with nine selections to our preseason all-conference team. They also boast the preseason Coach and Player of the Year in Dabo Swinney and Cade Klubnik, respectively. Here's a look at the ACC's top offensive and defensive players entering 2025 — as well as our predicted order of finish: Offense Quarterback: Cade Klubnik, Clemson Running back: Isaac Brown, Louisville* Running back: Jamal Haynes, Georgia Tech Wide receiver: Antonio Williams, Clemson* Wide receiver (tie): Caullin Lacy, Louisville; Eric Rivers, Georgia Tech; Bryant Wesco Jr., Clemson Tight end: Justin Joly, N.C. State Offensive line: Keylan Rutledge, Georgia Tech* Offensive line: Francis Mauigoa, Miami Offensive line: Blake Miller, Clemson Offensive line: Pete Nygra, Louisville Offensive line: Brian Parker II, Duke Defense Defensive line: TJ Parker, Clemson* Defensive line: Peter Woods, Clemson* Defensive line: Rueben Bain Jr., Miami Defensive line: Jordan van den Berg, Georgia Tech Linebacker: Kyle Louis, Pittsburgh* Linebacker: Wade Woodaz, Clemson Linebacker: Sammy Brown, Clemson Defensive back: Avieon Terrell, Clemson* Defensive back: Chandler Rivers, Duke Defensive back: Terry Moore, Duke Defensive back: Isaiah Nwokobia, SMU Special teams Placekicker: Collin Rogers, SMU Punter: Jack Stonehouse, Syracuse All-purpose: Desmond Reid, Pittsburgh *Unanimous choice Preseason awards Coach of the Year: Dabo Swinney, Clemson Player of the Year: Cade Klubnik, Clemson Newcomer of the Year: Cade Klubnik, Clemson Predicted order of finish Clemson Miami SMU Louisville Georgia Tech Duke Florida State Pittsburgh Virginia Tech N.C. State Syracuse North Carolina Boston College Virginia Wake Forest California Stanford Poll participants: Rodd Baxley, Fayetteville Observer; Derrian Carter, Greenville News; Alexis Cubit, Louisville Courier Journal; Peter Holland Jr., Tallahassee Democrat; JD McCarthy, FSU Wire; Zack Pearson, Tar Heels Wire; Liam Rooney, Tallahassee Democrat; Anna Snyder, Fayetteville Observer; Alex Turri, Clemson Wire. Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@ and follow him on X at @brooksHolton. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: All-ACC preseason football team 2025 from the USA TODAY Sports Network
