FSU football: More proof ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips doesn't understand perception

FSU football was at the opening of the 2024 ACC Kickoff in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Monday. The ACC defending champions had head coach Mike Norvell, offensive lineman Darius Washington, and defensive linemen Patrick Payton and Joshua Farmer in attendance. They all represented the program in a first-class way, as expected.

Of course, one of the hot topics was the FSU lawsuit against the ACC, and ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips gave his thoughts on that situation. Notice Phillips said they will fight to protect the ACC, not to keep FSU and Clemson. Also, it's a joke that he believes the ACC deserves better, when these two programs have carried the conference for over the last quarter of a century. Those two programs deserve to get paid for what they are worth, unlike scrub teams like Wake Forest, Boston College, California, Syracuse, and others bleeding the conference dry without contributing anything except easy wins for others.

I expect him to say stuff like they'll fight the lawsuits, but the next quote tells us he's clueless about how perception works.

FSU went undefeated in the regular season last season, beating two SEC teams in the non-conference and three teams in the top 20 by an average score of 15 points. However, you only heard they didn't beat anyone because they played in the ACC. You didn't hear Jim Phillips talking about how FSU deserved to be in the College Football Playoffs because of what they accomplished in the ACC last year. However, now he's bragging about playing the toughest non-conference schedule. Those games don't mean anything for ACC teams when they win(the ACC had a winning record against the SEC last season). However, when ACC teams get destroyed by non-conference teams, they are the laughingstock of college football. The fact he can't brag about the competition AMONG ACC teams in conference play tells you all you need to know. Hopefully, 2025 will be the last year in the pitiful conference.