ACC commissioner urges 'cooperation' between schools, conferences - ESPN

In his remarks to open the ACC's annual kickoff event in Charlotte, commissioner Jim Phillips emphasized a need for «restraint» and «cooperation» by schools and conferences as college athletics works to create a framework for the future.

Phillips said he has urged coaches and athletics departments to abide by new restrictions imposed in the wake of the House vs. NCAA settlement that allows schools to spend up to $20.5 million annually on direct athlete compensation while also creating oversight of name, image and likeness contracts — effectively putting a soft cap on what athletics department can spend on talent acquisition.

«It's about setting up a standard with transparency,» Phillips said. «We haven't had that in the NIL era. Sometimes we can't help ourselves. People know what the rules are relative to the $20.5. They know what legitimate NIL is. You can play in the gray area if you want but all that does is undermine the new structure.»

Phillips reiterated a need for government oversight, too, and said he continues to advocate for federal legislation that would, among other things, codify that student-athletes are not employees.

Phillips' comments echoed a larger narrative he pushed Tuesday about a need for a unified vision for the future of college athletics that prioritizes both the enterprise as well as individual schools and conferences.

«I've always tried to be part of solutions and collaboration,» Phillips said. «We all have a responsibility to our conference, and I certainly do for the ACC, but I also know we have a responsibility to the enterprise — whether it's what's happening now with [the College Football Playoff] or what we do with a new governance structure or how we formulate the [College Sports