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 Commission]. I’m pretty strong in my convictions but try to bring people together. The best way to get a deal done is maybe relent a little bit and give up a few things but keep an eye on what we’re trying to achieve.”

The potential expansion of the College Football Playoff remains one of the biggest sticking points among individual commissioners, with the Big Ten pushing for a model that includes automatic bids for the top four teams in its league, while the SEC and Big 12 have advocated for a 5+11 model that would give berths to five conference champions and 11 wild cards.

Phillips did not support a specific plan, but he said he wants to see conference championships rewarded and is in favor of increased access, suggesting he’d be open to a 14- or 16-team playoff that did not guarantee more than one berth for any conference.

Part of the playoff negotiations is a renewed focus on strength of schedule, with the SEC wanting guarantees from a playoff selection committee on specific metrics that will be utilized to ensure teams with more difficult schedules will be rewarded for playing tougher games. An agreement on those metrics could open the door for the SEC to move to a nine-game conference schedule — similar to the Big Ten and Big 12 — which, Phillips said, could force the ACC to follow suit.

“I like where we’re at with eight games,” Phillips said. “We’ll adjust if we have to, but I think some of those traditional [non-conference] rivalry games that we really enjoy could go away.”

If Kentucky is actually spending more on the basketball team compared to football, they are not alone in this mindset

PublishedJuly 22, 2025 11:46 AM EDT•UpdatedJuly 22, 2025 11:54 AM EDT

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One of the tougher decisions that athletic departments have to make right now in this era of revenue-sharing in college athletics is which sport will receive a majority of the money available to share with athletes. For Kentucky, it sounds as though that decision has been made for the upcoming year. 

Over the past year, athletic directors have sat down with coaches across college campuses and discussed how they would spend allocated money on sports that generate revenue. For some schools, it’s more important to spend on building a football roster compared to basketball, and for others, it’s the opposite. 

At Kentucky, there has reportedly been a decision made on how much of a percentage will be allocated towards Mark Pope’s basketball roster, which many would assume won’t sit well with football coach Mark Stoops. 

CBS Sports reported on Monday that Kentucky is giving 45% of its revenue-sharing budget to the basketball program, which is just over $9 million. This number is drastically higher than what other schools within the SEC are allocating to their basketball programs, just off the cap that was put into place. 

While there was talk of SEC programs agreeing to an equal revenue-sharing cap for basketball, there were some schools that fought back on this idea, given that you cannot force schools to make these decisions with their allocated money. 

Just because one school in the conference decides to prioritize one sport compared to others doesn’t mean that they have to follow the same formula as their foes. And this is where the problems will arise for plenty of athletic departments across college athletics. 

If Kentucky decides to spend $9 million on its roster, while Georgia might only allocate $3 million, that’s not the Wildcats problem to deal with. But, this is also where schools will have to rely on boosters to narrow the gap, especially if one program is spending almost triple the amount of others on one sport. 

Which Sport Will Boosters Decide To Spend Money On? Lingering Debate Continues

Sources have told OutKick that the 45% number that was reported on Monday is not quite the exact figure that Kentucky is allocating to basketball. The most important aspect of this moving forward is that the Wildcats have plenty of boosters that are willing to give the basketball program money for a shot at a national championship. 

In reality, it’s not that tough of a decision for boosters to make, given the history of Kentucky basketball, compared to the football program. The same could be said for Arkansas under John Calipari, which had a very expensive roster last season, thanks in large part to John Tyson, who is the founder of ‘Tyson Chicken’. 

Moving forward, these are the dilemmas that will force tough decisions to be made by those outside the program on how to spend their money. What’s more likely? Kentucky winning a national championship in basketball or football? That is certainly not a shot at the Wildcats, but more so the question that plenty of wealthy boosters are asking themselves when approached to donate money towards athletic programs. 

There is certainly a lot of backdoor lobbying that is occurring around college campuses right now, and it will only continue in the coming years. 

Join Dinsmore partners Eddie Edwards and Nick Godfrey as they discuss the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) era post July 1. The landscape of college athletics has shifted quickly from a chaotic free-for-all to an evolving patchwork of state laws and NCAA guidance. However, with the new federal guidelines and court rulings now in effect, we have now entered a defining moment in NIL regulation and college athletics.

Join our distinguished panel of stakeholders from within the sports industry for an in-depth exploration of the new landscape governing NIL. This timely webinar will unpack what’s changing, what it means for athletes and institutions, and how to prepare for what’s next.

Whether you are a university administrator, legal professional, student-athlete, or brand strategist, this session will give you the clarity and insights needed to navigate NIL’s new frontier.

Virtual Only

A join link will be emailed upon registration

Panel:

Jason Belzer
Founder – Student Athlete NIL

Chris King
Vice President and Director of Athletics at Robert Morris University

Jake Rosenberg
Partner – The Athlete Group

Doug Whaley
SVP Player Personnel UFL
Founder – MSW Consulting

President Donald Trump Considers Executive Order That Will Change The NIL Landscape

President Donald Trump is poised to sign an executive order that could significantly reshape the landscape of college athletics, particularly in the realm of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights.

The order, titled “Saving College Sports,” aims to establish national NIL standards, address athlete compensation, and provide clarity on the employment status of college athletes,

The executive order seeks to unify the patchwork of state NIL laws, which have created inconsistencies and challenges for schools and athletes alike.

RELATED | Top 20 College Athletes With The Highest NIL Valuations

It also directs federal agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board and the Department of Education, to develop policies that preserve the traditional model of college sports while ensuring fair opportunities for athletes.

Additionally, the order proposes protections against antitrust lawsuits and measures to safeguard Olympic sports within collegiate programs.

RELATED | EA Sports to Revive College Basketball Video Game in 2028

While the move has garnered support from some college sports leaders seeking stability, it has also faced criticism from those who argue it could limit athletes’ rights and earning potential.

The timing and final details of the order remain uncertain, but its potential impact on the future of college athletics is undeniable.

The lifestyle of a College Football coach is truly exhausting and one that ends up giving you very little time to do anything else. In the Fall, you are preparing for games each week while also recruiting, in the Winter you’re now recruiting transfers, High Schoolers, and your own players back for another season. The Spring brings practices and another transfer portal window and before you know it, it’s the Fall once again restarting that cycle.

The arrival of NIL and the Transfer Portal have made the job far more demanding for the coaches as they’re working around the clock to keep their roster in place. As coaches have become fed up with the system it’s led to some interesting career moves by College Coaches.

On Monday it was revealed that former Memphis and Virginia Tech Head Coach Justin Fuente was no longer pursuing Head Coaching gigs as he’ll now serve as a color analyst for the TCU Horned Frogs radio broadcast. In an interview with Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star Telegram, Justin Fuente laid out why he’s deciding to step away from coaching to work as a radio broadcaster for TCU.

“The current state of things I am not super interested (to coach) in, it’s just such a big commitment with the players, and the basis of the relationship now is purely transactional.”

Justin Fuente

This current model of College Football has driven plenty of coaches out of the sport and until there are some regulations that make the job less taxing on those involved, it will continue to drive away good coaches. Nick Saban has been the most vocal about the issues with the current model while Jeff Hafley left Boston College to become an NFL DC, and in basketball, coaches like Jim Larranaga and Tony Bennett all cited this model as the reason they stepped away.

While the Transfer Portal and NIL will never leave the sport, there are some easy changes that the NCAA could make to make the job less demanding on its coaches. Moving to one transfer portal window would lessen the workload on the coaches allowing them to focus on the players staying with the program. Adding more recruiting dead periods into the calendar would also be a massive fix as coaches are often juggling the current team and the future team in season.

Justin Fuente isn’t the first coach to leave behind College Football because of the changes and he certainly won’t be the last until there are more changes made.

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