Bill Belichick Thrown Under the Bus for ACC’s $250M Loss as Clemson & FSU’s Future Hangs in the Balance

The mass conference realignment ahead of last season turned college football on its head. Some of the biggest programs, even bluebloods, chose to divergence from their stations and then converge elsewhere. It led to the historic PAC-12 dissipating into thin air. A historic conference that was etched into CFB lore. Yet, it fell victim to modernization and, let’s be frank, money. A year after this, another Power conference faces the same fate. The reason for this predicament? UNC bringing the greatest coach ever, Bill Belichick, to their modest ACC habitat.

When USC President Carol Folt pushed for her football program to join the Big 10 instead, she started a trend. Oregon, among others, followed suit, and then it also reverberated across from the Pacific coast to the south. Texas and Oklahoma, two behemoths, joined the SEC. All of this was essentially a ploy to maximize earnings from TV broadcasters, and the cost of admission involved leaving tradition and loyalties behind. ESPN, which has broadcasting rights to the ACC and SEC, holds a lot of power. They pay these conferences and their members hundreds of millions. With that comes the rationale of moving teams within these two conferences around to align them with their interests. Alas, even a school like UNC, more known for its ventures on the hardwood than the gridiron, has become a big pull nationwide now with Bill Belichick.

As a result, ESPN is supposedly angling to get the Tar Heels into the limelight of the SEC. Where the eyeballs shall be incrementally higher. But didn’t ESPN and the ACC just sign an extension till 2036? Why would they weaken their own product? This facet and more were dissected over the “College Football Addiction” YouTube channel. The boys from “The Big Mountain” podcast guested in this crossover to leverage their insight. They think ESPN is playing the long game here, with an eye on some acrobatics between the two conferences they essentially “run.”

“I think this was just a really good opportunity while they were negotiating extending the contract to also talk about, ‘Hey, we have these IPs we want to keep under our umbrella. That’s the way that it was basically explained to me [by my source],” said Steve from the Big Mountain pod. As bad as it sounds, networks and the powers that be probably do look at the biggest, most storied programs in the countries as mere intellectual property. “ESPN really wants to keep Florida State, North Carolina, and I think Clemson as well in their umbrella.” As long as ESPN controls the ACC, it controls these programs and their future. That extension they signed made sense in this regard. If Bill Belichick sticks around long enough, he may well be moved over to the southeastern faction. This leads to the elephant in the room.

What then happens to the ACC? After seeing the demise of the Pac-12, the ones in charge of this conference sure need contingencies if ESPN does pull some of its biggest draws out. Steve said, “[The ACC] are never going to ‘make whole’. They’re never going to be exactly the same. But from what I understand, there are already programs that are lined…they’ve been notified that they basically have a spot in the ACC when and if those [programs leave].” In terms of the “when,” the buck stops with Bill Belichick, who in some ways fanned the flames of this ordeal vicariously. “The Bill Belichick situation- that’s kind of one the catalysts to maybe make things happen now,” remarked Steve. Without ever stepping foot on a college football gridiron, Belichick is shaping its future. And they said he’s washed!

What would Mike Norvell and Dabo Swinney make of “The Bill Belichick situation”?

Before UNC came to be perceived as this new force in the ACC about a couple of months ago, FSU and Clemson already wanted out. It’s clear that the sport is moving towards a Power 2 of the B1G and the SEC. These two programs know they’re at the risk of being left behind. Even if Steve’s claim that they’re being paid a bigger piece of the proverbial revenue pie is true, the figures will be nowhere near what members of the other two conferences rake in.

The aforementioned YouTube channel relayed the estimated figures of how much each program stands to make depending on which conference they’re in. For instance, an SEC member will get paid a share of about $102 million from the ESPN money in 2028. Conversely, an ACC team stands to make $52 million. Over a long period, this figure becomes so big that it’ll cause the likes of Clemson and FSU to fall behind in the pecking order. Other members as well, but these two are perennial contenders that cannot afford a discrepancy of this sort. The disadvantages on the recruitment front will be unassailable.

“Florida State and Clemson cannot make up enough of that gap…You’re talking about almost a quarter of a billion dollars [over 5 years]. That doesn’t even count how much money the SEC is going to make from the playoff when they likely have four auto bids… and the ACC is probably only getting one, maybe two teams in when we go to 14 teams, “ remarked the host.  There are two ways to look at this if you’re Mike Norvell or Dabo Swinney. Bill Belichick has either leapfrogged your respective programs and gets first preference of sorts if realignment comes about. Or Belichick will lift the tide collectively, and all 3 programs can benefit. Within all this, it’s important to keep one thing in perspective. How much of a farce it is that the broadcasters can make or break a program.