Jim Phillips evaluates whether intraconference transfers are good for ACC

The transfer portal is one of several hot-button issues of the college football offseason and it’s not going anywhere soon. And as college athletics leaders are growing more accustomed to the new reality, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips discussed the dynamic of transfers within a conference.

While intraconference transfers likely aren’t ideal, Phillips actually thinks they’re better than the alternative: An exodus of talent. And he credited league coaches with handling the new paradigm decently well.

“I’d lean towards a good thing more than bad in the sense of, they stay in the conference. And our schools in the conference, I would just leave it at that. They stay in the conference and they have a chance to be part and be an ACC student athlete. We have a chance to support them during their time, etc. But it is unique,” Phillips said. “… I’m proud of the coaches on how they’re handling that because that can’t be easy. The level of strife has been at a reasonable level, in that.”

Some leagues, such as the SEC, put a rule in place to limit intraconference transfers in football. For SEC players to transfer within the league, they have to do so in the winter transfer window prior to the start of spring practice. After spring practice in the April transfer window, SEC football players can only transfer outside of the league.

The ACC has no such embargo. Though, broadly, there hasn’t been a glut of players moving around the conference. Arguably the highest profile intraconference transfer in the ACC in recent weeks was former Florida State basketball star Matthew Cleveland jumping to Miami.

Either way, it’s something Phillips and the ACC coaches are getting used to. And, as Phillips said, it’s preferably to talent leaving the league altogether.

Phillips called for standardized NIL rules to help limit transfer tampering

Speaking with reporters at ACC spring meetings, Phillips shared a number of action items he’d like to see implemented. Some are more extreme than others.

“But, as it relates to name, image and likeness, there has to be agent registration. There has to be a standardized contract. There has to be a registry. And then four there has to be education on campus,” Phillips said. “And that should just be open, that should be — that should be available for schools to see. Each other, etc. And I think it allows at least a little bit of disclosure that we’re not seeing in that space. The standardized contract, again, just everybody fills out the same thing whether it’s a $500 name, image and likeness opportunity or a $500,000 name, image and likeness opportunity. So, that’s part of it.”

While the idea behind NIL was for athletes to be allowed to sign various endorsement deals and profit off their likeness, it’s quickly become a backdoor for entities to pay recruits, either in high school or the transfer portal. Phillips wants to course correct from this somehow, and he’s been looking to federal lawmakers for help.

“We see it. I hear cases of it. And we just have to try to figure out a way to fix that,” Phillips said during an appearance on the ACC Network on Wednesday. “Hence what I told you maybe earlier off the air about going to Washington, D.C., about trying to get some help federally.”

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