In just a few weeks, players throughout the country will report to training camp, thus marking the official start of the 2023 college football season. However, some would argue that the true start of another collegiate gridiron campaign begins a bit earlier, during the conference media events.
On Tuesday, each of the 14 ACC coaches along with a few player representatives from their squads will make the trip out to Charlotte, N.C., for the 2023 ACC Kickoff. While it has been known to generate headlines each summer, this year’s event will likely bring an extra element of drama to the table thanks to an eventful offseason.
The 2023 ACC Kickoff will begin Tuesday morning and conclude late Thursday afternoon. Here are five storylines to monitor throughout the three days of festivities:
All eyes on the commissioner
After reporters check in and receive their complimentary breakfast, Jim Phillips will start things off Tuesday morning with his commissioner’s forum at 9:30 a.m. While the head of the ACC will likely look forward to highlighting the league’s many returning stars or discussing the pros that can come from the diminishment of the two conference system, it is fair to assume most of his time will be spent addressing far more pressing issues.
The first topic Phillips will certainly field questions on is the league’s grant of rights contract, which was one of the biggest college sports stories of the summer. At the start of this month, the Big Ten’s new media deal kicked in, which is expected to pay out an average of $75 million to each of the conference’s member schools. Next summer, the SEC will begin its new media deal, which will distribute an equal sum to all of its teams.
The ACC, meanwhile, finds itself in a completely different boat.
Multiple sources within athletic offices at ACC programs told the Post-Gazette that the league’s grant of rights deal provides its 14 teams with an annual payout of somewhere between $35 to $45 million, which of course is a wide gap between the payout for those in the Big Ten and SEC.
Numerous ACC athletic directors voiced their displeasure with the league’s media revenue discrepancy in early May during the league’s spring meetings. Tensions continued to build later that month when reports surfaced saying that a group of seven schools, which would later be deemed the “Magnificent Seven,” within the ACC gathered numerous times with lawyers to take a closer look at the league’s grant of rights deal to find a possible exit from the conference.
Although talks about a potential mass exodus have since cooled down, the topic will undoubtedly be revisited by Phillips on Tuesday. Phillips, along with multiple ACC athletic directors, informed the Post-Gazette that the league has already taken numerous steps to create new streams of revenue within the deal’s current structure. The ACC also announced in late May that its board of directors endorsed a success incentive initiative that will be implemented during the 2024-25 academic year, although the specifics of that initiative have yet to be made public.
In addition to league drama, Phillips himself has recently been connected to another major offseason story.
A report Wednesday from ESPN stated that Phillips, the former AD at Northwestern, is listed as a defendant in a new lawsuit against the university in connection with a hazing scandal that resulted in the firing of the football program’s head coach, Pat Fitzgerald. The lawsuit is the second of its kind, with the first surfacing earlier this month. The first lawsuit, however, did not include Phillips’ name. Phillips served as Northwestern’s AD from 2008 through 2021, which overlapped with the time periods of many of the allegations that have been made.
Show me the money
While ACC coaches will likely have little to say about Phillips’ connection to the Northwestern hazing scandal, their lips might be less hushed when it comes to the media revenue issue. The 2023 college football season marks the final year of the sport’s four-team playoff — the bracket is set to expand to 12 teams in 2024.
With the playoff format expanding, more teams in each of the Power Five conferences will have a better chance at competing for a national championship. However, the media deals for the Big Ten and SEC will provide the two league’s schools with a notable advantage over the remainder of the field.
So far, most of the voices within the ACC on record this summer are athletic directors. Expect for that to change this week.
Most coaches were asked about the idea of college football realignment last summer at the ACC Kickoff, following the news of USC and UCLA announcing a future move to the Big Ten. But the realignment discussion will be different this year, as the drama involving the Magnificent Seven hits closer to home.
North Carolina coach Mack Brown has been one of the few ACC head coaches to discuss the rumors of desired departure from the conference this offseason. The College Football Hall of Famer broached the subject on the Paul Finebaum Show last month, saying the programs that made up the Magnificent Seven weren’t trying to leave the conference, but were simply trying to “get more money.”
With the ACC having no representation in the college football playoff in each of the past two seasons, coaches and league officials alike are determined to ensure the conference doesn’t miss out on the game’s biggest stage once again this upcoming postseason. Though more opportunities will exist in the near future, it is safe to assume ACC coaches won’t be thrilled knowing programs from other leagues will have bigger budgets to work with while competing for the same playoff spots.
Who is No. 3?
Amazingly enough, the 2023 ACC Kickoff will also include discussion about actual football. Media in attendance for the three-day event will all have the opportunity to vote in the league’s preseason poll. Florida State and Clemson, which ended last season ranked No. 11 and No. 13 in the final AP poll, will presumably fill the top two spots in the rankings, but after that, it’s wide open.
Numerous teams have a strong case to fill out the remainder of the top five preseason spots. North Carolina returns 15 starters, including ACC Player of the Year Drake Maye. Pitt is coming off back-to-back seasons in which it finished ranked in the final AP poll. Duke, which was the league’s surprise team in 2022, lost just three starters on offense but returned quarterback Riley Leonard.
Both the Panthers and Blue Devils won nine games last year. NC State and Wake Forest are aiming to build off eight-win seasons, and as is the case pretty much any time a new season approaches, there is buzz around a new crop of talent in Miami. Each group has its own strengths and weaknesses but none, as of now, stand head and shoulders above the remainder of the pack.
Should voters favor star-power, North Carolina and Duke will be the programs that benefit most. If it's consistent play in recent years, look for Pitt, NC State and Wake Forest to get the nod. All told, there will be plenty of coaches in attendance looking to make their case as to why their team deserves to be rated higher than the rest.
Familiar faces in new places
Brennan Armstrong and Phil Jurkovec were both in attendance at last year’s ACC Kickoff. This week, they’ll return to Charlotte once again, but with a new team.
Armstrong and Jurkovec both transferred within the ACC this past offseason. Armstrong, who threw for over 9,000 yards in his four years at Virginia, will play his final season at NC State, while Jurkovec, of course, transferred to Pitt, his third team in five years.
Another notable name to make a jump within the ACC is defensive back Fentrell Cypress II. After earning second-team All-ACC recognition last season at Virginia, the junior cornerback will play for Florida State in 2023.
The ACC also received a few notable transfers from outside the league this offseason. Javion Cohen, who earned second-team All-SEC honors last year at Alabama, is now playing for Miami. Devontez Walker, who was a first-team All-MAC receiver in 2022, will now be Maye’s top target at North Carolina. With those names and more, you can expect the transfer portal to once again be a significant discussion topic in Charlotte.
Phil is the guy
And finally for the biggest local storyline, look no further than the Panthers starting quarterback. Pitt fans have wanted Phil Jurkovec before he was old enough to drive a car. This December, they finally got their wish.
Jurkovec’s arrival at Pitt comes with plenty of attention. Some still view him as the hometown star that led Pine-Richland to WPIAL and PIAA Class 6A championships his senior year. Others are quick to point out his early departure from Notre Dame and his injury history at Boston College.
Regardless of how he’s viewed outside the program, internally, one thing is clear: Jurkovec is the face of Pitt’s 2023 team.
Last season, the Panthers went to the transfer portal to find a replacement for Kenny Pickett and found Kedon Slovis, a former starter at USC with an established resume. Though Jurkovec’s entry into the program is similar, the similarities, at least for now, end there.
Despite his notable name, Slovis wasn’t named Pitt’s starting quarterback until the end of training camp last summer. He wasn’t one of the three players to represent the Panthers at the 2022 ACC Kickoff, either. There was never any true doubt as to who would be under center in Week 1, but for some reason, Pat Narduzzi left the door open. That hasn’t been the case with Jurkovec.
This spring, Narduzzi informed reporters that Nate Yarnell and Penn State transfer Christian Veilleux will be competing for the backup quarterback position.
Quarterback play was a notable detriment to Pitt’s 2022 season. Had the Panthers received better production from Slovis, their record might have been even better than 9-4. Having run Cignetti’s offensive earlier in his collegiate career at Boston College, Jurkovec comes to Pitt with a higher degree of confidence around him. Coaches and players alike have endorsed his familiarity with the playbook and raved about his ability to quickly establish himself as a leader.
Can that high praise be reflected on the field? That’s a question Jurkovec will have to answer come September, but it’s a narrative he will address this week. Unlike the man before him, Jurkovec has been given the keys to Pitt’s offense. The ball is in his court. While reporters had a few opportunities to speak with him this offseason, the ACC Kickoff marks his first true time being the face of the program.
Noah Hiles: nhiles@post-gazette.com and Twitter @_NoahHiles
First Published: July 23, 2023, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: July 24, 2023, 8:04 p.m.