2023 ACC Football Kickoff: Day 1 News

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips’ opening remarks at the ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte on Tuesday ran almost 30 minutes and covered a number of topics, from the league’s relationship with ESPN and CW/Raycom to the College Football Playoff, NIL and the new success-based initiative. 

He also briefly touched on the situation at Northwestern — he’s been named as a co-defendant in two lawsuits stemming from the hazing scandal in the football program that led to Pat Fitzgerald’s firing — before saying he can’t comment further due to pending litigation.

“During my 30-year career in college athletics, my highest priority has always been the health and safety of our student-athletes,” Phillips said.

Phillips spoke for a long time and used a number of buzzwords without saying too much of note. Here are some bits of info from Day 1 in the Queen City, though, before Brent Pry and Virginia Tech address the media on Wednesday:

1. Jim Phillips wants Congress to level the playing field in the NIL space.

He’s not the first conference commissioner to bring that up — the SEC’s Greg Sankey said the same recently — and it’s easy to understand why. At the moment, the current NIL landscape is bumpy. Universities and athletic departments refer to state laws… but not every state is the same.

Texas, for example, passed a new law in June that “essentially allows colleges to interact with collectives and third-party entities,” according to the Dallas Morning News. It also says no athletic conference or group — in this case, the NCAA — can prohibit Texas colleges from abiding by the new laws.

Essentially, the NCAA has one set of rules. But state laws vary, giving an advantage to certain universities. Phillips’ hope is that the government can get involved and provide some kind of federal legislation that creates consistency.

“When you have inter- and intra-state competition, you want fairness in everybody playing with the same types of rules,” Phillips said. “So that’s why Washington, D.C., Congress has been really important, and we’ve made some strides, but I would also say that it’s not probably ready for public consumption now. 

“We are thinking about a plan B if we can’t get help from Washington, D.C., because I think the biggest difficulty that our coaches are faced with. But it’s not going away, and nor should it. 

Phillips also made it clear that he believes “athletes are students, not employees.” But how might it look in the distant future if the courts decide otherwise?

“You have to be ready for anything,” Phillips said. “… This is a fluid, changing landscape. What a student-athlete and their experience is and being able to get support and monetize their name, image and likeness, what that looked like ten years ago versus today, we have to be ready for almost anything. 

“The courts have been active all the way up to the Supreme Court, so it would be naive for us to think that, ‘Hey, we can just kind of do this thing ourselves without much interference.’ We’ll have to continue to look at it. I know that that is not the desire of the ACC presidents at all, but at some point it could be a reality.”

2. There are three new rule changes to college football.

In April, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved some adjustments that will slightly change the timing of games:

1. The game clock will continue to run when a first down is gained, except within the final two minutes of a half. In the past, the game clock stopped after a first down and restarted after the first down was awarded and the ball was spotted.
2. Teams will not be able to call consecutive timeouts during the same dead-ball period.
3. Penalties at the end of the first and third quarter will carry over and be enforced at the start of the second and fourth quarters, respectively.

Alberto Riveron, who was named the ACC’s Supervisor of Football Officials in November, spoke with the media on Tuesday afternoon and answered questions. The overarching theme: player safety.

With the new rules, there will be between seven and nine fewer plays per game, according to Riveron. Over the course of a 12-game season, that number could finish between 80 and 110. It’s all about limiting contact between student-athletes.

He also mentioned the use of expedited replay review this season, which is often used in the NFL. In situations where it’s obvious the wrong call was made, replay officials will hold the head official for a few seconds and have them change the call on the field without sending them to the monitor. 

3. The ACC Network will be in Blacksburg on Sept. 2 for Virginia Tech’s season-opener vs. Old Dominion.

Kelsey Riggs and the ACC Network crew followed Phillips on the stage and announced that two shows, ACC Huddle and ACC PM, will travel every week to different games around the conference. They’ll start in the New River Valley with the Hokies and their season-opener vs. ODU on Sept. 2.

Riggs is the new host of ACC Huddle, replacing Jordan Cornette, who was part of ESPN’s layoffs in July. She’ll be joined by Eric Mac Lain, EJ Manuel, Mark Richt and former Tech wide receiver Eddie Royal.

“The show will be live every Saturday from the site of the ACC Primetime Football game from 11 a.m. – noon ET and continuing with wall-to-wall coverage throughout the day featuring halftime reports, a primetime show from 6:30-8 p.m. and a one-hour show at the end of the day recapping all of the ACC football action and featuring live on-set interviews with winning players and coaches,” per ESPN’s release.

Mark Packer and Taylor Tannebaum will continue to host ACC PM, which enters its second year. It airs weekdays from 4-7 p.m. ET on the ACC Network and will join the ACC Huddle at campus locations on Fridays.

Tannebaum is also a new member of the network’s ACC Primetime Football crew as a sideline reporter, replacing Riggs. Wes Durham is the new play-by-play voice paired up with analyst Tim Hasselbeck in the booth. That trio will call Virginia Tech vs. Old Dominion at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 2 on the ACC Network.

The ACC Football Road Trip is back, too. The third edition kicks off on Monday, Aug. 7 at Florida State and travels to Blacksburg on Thursday, Aug. 10. That crew will include Dalen Cuff, Eddie Royal, Roddy Jones and Mark Packer.

4. Former Virginia Tech offensive lineman Bryan Hudson will face the Hokies for the first time since departing in 2020.

On Dec. 27, 2020, Hudson announced he was transferring from Virginia Tech to Louisville. The Georgetown, Ky. native, who was a four-star recruit coming out of high school, was a top-five prospect in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and top-200 nationally.

Hudson played in 21 games over two seasons, starting 12, 10 of which came in 2019. He’s excelled at center since joining the Cardinals — he was their highest-rated offensive lineman in 2022 with a PFF grade of 76.4.

He doesn’t hold any hard feelings against the Hokies, though. Hudson still keeps in touch with a few of his former teammates, including Jesse Hanson and Parker Clements, who were in his wedding over the summer. And he’s excited to face his former team when the Hokies travel to Louisville on Nov. 4.

“I love Blacksburg, it’s a great town,” Hudson said on Tuesday. “Virginia Tech helped me out a lot. I didn’t play center until I got to Virginia Tech; I started out as a tackle there over the summer and moved to center during fall camp, … so that’s kind of what started it all. I wouldn’t trade my experience [at VT] for anything, I think it really helped shape me.”