ACC coaches were pitched on expanding the College Football Playoff. Not all are sold

While his team doesn’t play an ACC football schedule, last year’s exception due to the pandemic-altered season notwithstanding, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick had the attention of every ACC football coach this week.

With all the coaches gathered at the Westin Hotel in uptown Charlotte for the ACC Kickoff event, Swarbrick updated them on proposals to expand the College Football Playoff beyond its current four-team setup.

“I learned a lot listening to it,” N.C. State coach Dave Doeren said of Wednesday’s presentation. “No decisions have been made. There are a lot of questions that we have as coaches, with a variety of concerns.”

Duke coach David Cutcliffe told the News & Observer this is all “a part of reimagining college football.”

Last month, the College Football Playoff board of managers approved a feasibility study aimed at tripling the playoff’s field to 12 at a future date. That move came after the CFP management committee, which includes Swarbrick and the 10 Football Bowl Subdivision commissioners (including ACC commissioner Jim Phillips), had heard a presentation on the expansion.

Swarbrick was also on the four-person committee that came up with playoff expansion proposal.

Phillips said the ACC coaches remain split on the subject.

“There isn’t a consensus,” Phillips told the News & Observer on Thursday. “What I would say is it was really informative, incredibly informative. I’m not sure there’s another conference that’s done that, but we felt like we should do that with our group.”

While no final decision has been made, Cutcliffe said he believes an expanded playoff is “inevitable.”

“It’s going to happen,” Cutcliffe said. “I’m not negative about it but I grow a little tired of the comments that aren’t as sincere as they should be. This is not about finding a better way to find a champion. That’s not the path. This is all about money and that’s important too. The funds will go from millions to billions and you can’t just ignore that. The funds become important not just for football but it becomes important for other student-athletes and programs. We’ve had a tough year across the country. That’s important and you have to listen to that.”

But given that an expanded playoff with renegotiated television contracts will bring in a large windfall of cash, Cutcliffe said the players should benefit because of the extra games and time devoted to the sport.

“Maybe more important than NIL,” Cutcliffe said, “ if you are going to extend this to two semesters or extend the season like that, the players get a percentage. Not stars, all of them get a little check. I’m not going to be dead set against (expansion). I just want to hear honesty. I know exactly what it’s about.”

In his presentation to the coaches Tuesday, Swarbrick went through all the scenarios that were discussed — from four teams all the way up to 16 with other numbers in between.

“Six teams, seven teams with a play-in game, eight teams,” Doeren said. “Ten, 12, 16. These guys worked really hard. It was interesting to listen to.”

Doeren coached at Montana earlier in his career, giving him experience with the 16-team playoff used at the Football Championship subdivision at the time. The FCS bracket expanded to 24 in 2013.

Two of those Montana teams advanced all the way to the championship game.

“So I understand the length of the season and how that played on the roster,” Doeren said. “But at the FCS level, you don’t have playoffs plus bowls.”

Phillips said the number of games and the impact on players is a top issue that must be worked through.

“Do we really want to be playing that many games?” Phillips said. “What does it do to the regular season, the academic calendar? And so there are lots of questions there.”

Phillips had previously asked the league’s coaches to get feedback from their players about a playoff expansion. UNC coach Mack Brown said earlier this month his players were against the idea.

“Decisions aren’t finalized yet,” Brown said, “but I did think it was important that our commissioner wanted reactions from our players. We’re just trying to make sure that everybody understands what the thoughts of everybody are when we go into such a huge jump from four to 12, instead of just having it happen.”

Cutcliffe has often said college football has the most important regular season in all of sports. He also believes adding more teams wouldn’t automatically make a better on-field playoff product.

“There are not 12 teams that you would select that are 12 teams that deserve to win the national championship,” he said.

The impact on the regular season is something many in the game have in mind as this decision is made.

“Some coaches feel like it could help the regular season,” Phillips said. “You could suffer a loss and you’re not out. You’re alive. The flip side of that is, does it take a little basketball effect in the sense that, are people really paying the same amount of attention during the regular season, when everybody’s focused on March Madness?”

The CFP board of managers will meet again in September. That group includes 11 university presidents and chancellors representing each of the 10 FBS conferences plus Notre Dame.

Clemson’s Jim Clements is the ACC’s representative.

The current CFP contract runs through the 2025-26 season so these talks are underway with that timeframe in mind.

The different leagues are expected to come to that meeting with feedback and a consensus from their schools about the proposal.

“My responsibility is to have this thing in a good place in September,” Phillips said. “That it’s vetted, it’s socialized, and get with Jim Clements, who will have the vote for the ACC ultimately. That we’ve really vetted it, really had conversations about it and this is the position of the conference.”

Staff Writer Luke DeCock contributed to this story