Originally, I was asked to keep something secret BUT I just saw that the topic I was supposed to keep secret mentioned once today on another board so if the word is starting to trickle out, I might as well spill the beans here.
The unusual "event" is that John Swofford, the ACC commissioner, is meeting with the Clemson board tomorrow. Now, it isn't unheard of to appear in front of a member school's board BUT the circumstances this time are very unique. Swofford asked for this meeting about a month ago, he wasn't invited as is the normal protocol (he timed it during a regularly scheduled quarterly Clemson board meeting so as not to draw attention). Usually, the ACC office will freely discuss what is on the agenda when the commissioner goes in front of a school's board but this time, they won't even acknowledge that a meeting is happening. I know someone who asked David Wilkins, the chair of Clemson's board, about the meeting and he just said he had nothing to say about it (and in the past, Wilkins was more than willing to share info with him). This is not a typical meeting by any means.
Here is what the deal is.....about a month and a half back, Clemson made it very clear to Swofford how unhappy they were with the ACC TV deal and how they didn't like being in the financial hole that comes from being a football school in the ACC. Clemson made it very clear to Swofford that they wanted one or both of the following:
A. ND as a full member (much easier said than done but this explains why the ACC has made the recent full-court press for ND)
B. Bowl/Playoff $ not to be distributed equally to all conference members but for a disproportionately larger piece to go the team that actually qualified for the bowl/playoff (good luck selling that to North Carolina, Duke & Wake).
Apparently, this meeting is Swofford's last attempt & pitch to save the ACC and to explain the progress he has made on these 2 fronts and possibly what other ideas he has to close the financial gap between the ACC football schools and the Big 12 & SEC. It all goes down tomorrow. My contact feels that what Clemson has done is similar to what FSU did when it told the ACC representatives going to the meetings for the new playoffs to push for an 8-team playoff - they have put in a request that the ACC had little chance of satisfying so they can at least say they tried. Swofford has to work a miracle to save his football schools.
It is important to remember the animosity between Swofford and Clemson and how far back it goes. Most of you know that the ACC football schools were PISSED about Cuse & Pitt being invited and this is true. The basketball orientation of the conference is very frustrating for schools like Clemson & FSU. However, this animosity goes back to the 80s when Swofford was the AD at North Carolina. Clemson got caught cheating and got hammered pretty hard by the NCAA. However, Swofford didn't think the penalties were enough so, in a meeting of all of the ACC ADs, he wanted the conference to impose additional penalties. Most went along with him but Maryland & Wake walked out of the meeting in disgust & refused to vote. It is safe to say that many of the old-timers on the Clemson board hate Swofford and won't be a receptive audience tomorrow. He definitely has an uphill battle.
I will follow up with more info as I receive it about how the meeting goes. I have no idea when it starts or ends. Please, keep this off twitter & other sites until tomorrow.
