Louisville AD Josh Heird Confident in ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips' Leadership Amid Conference Realignment
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Conference realignment is one of the biggest hot button topics in collegiate athletics right now. With Texas and Oklahoma heading to the SEC, and USC and UCLA on the move to the Big Ten, it seems that it is only a matter of time before the next shoe drops.
While we are on the fast track to two super-conferences potentially ruling the roost, that has raised a bevy of questions for the remaining three conferences that currently make up the Power Five. Mainly, they revolve around each conference's long-term future, how they should go about conference realignment, and how they should react when the next move is inevitably made.
It remains to be seen what the ACC's next move will be, whether it's to be aggressive and pursue new members as a counter to the SEC and Big Ten, or to stand pat with the 14 full time members they have. Regardless of the path that ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips chooses to take, Louisville athletic director Josh Heird is confident that he will put the ACC in the "best possible situation"
"On the realignment question, I would tell you I'm really, really confident in where the ACC is," Heard told reporters Thursday. "I'm really, really confident in what the commissioner of the ACC is doing to put the ACC in the best possible situation to be successful.
"We have constant conversations at the conference level with AD's, with presidents, ACC staff, and I can assure Cardinal fans that the ACC is in a strong position. It's the responsibility and the job of the commissioner to try to put us in a better position, and he's working every minute of every day to do that."
A lot of conference realignment questions, when pertaining to the ACC, revolve around the league's current media rights deal with ESPN, which is one of the worst in the Power Five. According to a study conducted by The Athletic, the ACC's average payout per school from their media rights deal is projected to be at $30.9 million in 2022, the worst of all the Power Five Conferences. The Pac-12 is projected at $34.4 million and the Big 12 is projected at $40.6 million. The Big Ten and SEC lead the pack at $57.2 million and 54.3 million, respectively.
Adding new members would allow the ACC to renegotiate their media rights deal with ESPN, which along with their Grant of Rights, is set to last through 2036. However, North Carolina chancellor recently stated that he is "optimistic" that the ACC will be able to get a better contract with ESPN regardless of conference movement, and Heird echoed that sentiment.
"I think that's feasible," he said. "I think they (ESPN) understand that the ACC has to be extremely healthy for college athletics and be successful. I think they do feel an obligation to make sure that transpires in every decision. I know it's hard to believe, but not every decision is based on the bottom line. At some point, we're going to need more than - I'll take the SEC and the Big 10 as an example - 32 teams to make college athletics viable."
"So what does that look like? That's what those conversations are being had. What partnerships can be created? What are the entities involved to make sure that ESPN is getting the value that they feel they deserve and they need? But I think there's an opportunity. I think there's a path there to have some of those conversations."
Heird added that his confidence in Phillips' leadership and the ACC's overall future stems from the strength of the current institutions in the conference. He believes that any conference "would want to have any or all of those teams" in the ACC, and that Phillips' guidance, combined with the input from the league's presidents and athletic directors, will "make sure that we're in a really viable position as we move forward."
As far as Louisville's role in conference realignment, it appears they don't currently have one - at least right now. When asked if UofL had been approached by other conferences regarding a move, Heird succently answered with "No."
Time will tell how involved the ACC truly gets when it comes to conference realignment, especially with reports starting to come out that current members are entertaining leaving the conference, and that other schools are starting to reach out to the league.
But for now, Heird remains confident that the ACC will remain strong through this next round of conference realignment.
(Photo of Josh Heird: Matt Stone - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)
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