CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The final housekeeping items before the 2022 college football season kicks off have been addressed, as players and coaches from Atlantic Coast Conference programs have given their takes on the upcoming campaign which is loaded with storylines.
Plenty of discussion was afloat regarding conference realignment and merging, the name, image, and likeness landscape, and the breaking thought that the one-time transfer portal rule could be done away with in favor of allowing players to transfer multiple times without penalty.
Here are three takeaways from the ACC Kickoff event:
1. NOT IN FAVOR
Pat Narduzzi learned of the NCAA Division I Council's recommendation to do away with the one-time transfer rule while in a breakout session with media on Thursday. The rubber-stamping of the change -- nothing is official, yet -- would mean that players can enter the transfer portal as often as they please without penalty.
According to the council, the recommendations are meant to "better support student-athletes, improve efficiency and timeliness in the infractions process, and improve clarity in the transfer environment." The Division I Board of Directors are voting in August on the concepts.
Narduzzi wasn't a fan of this idea. At first, he said it was "like high school football" in certain spots.
"The thing I sit in my office with recruits all the time is talking to them about making a good decision and not transferring," Narduzzi said. "And I think that parents and high school coaches are starting to figure it out a little bit more. They understand the portal is not a good place to be. So, if you're going to go one time or two times, I mean, we're going to let these kids transfer three times? How good is that for the kid? When you go [as a] two-time transfer, it's hard enough to graduate as a one-time transfer. You're going to lose credits wherever you go. What's two times going to do for your degree? Is getting a degree not important? Maybe we should just not let them go to school anymore. They could just transfer and play somewhere every other week or every other season, whatever they want to do."
2. NOT ALL ABOUT CLEMSON
The standard bearer within the ACC for the last decade has been Clemson. The Tigers have won 10 or more games in each of the last 11 seasons under Dabo Swinney, and in the process have won two College Football Playoff National Championships and four additional bowl games, while making two other CFP National Championship Game appearances.
The Tigers are clearly the standard bearer in the ACC, which means last season's 10-3 overall record and 6-2 conference mark weren't up to par.
This week, much of the discourse with Swinney was about what Clemson failed to accomplish -- they were ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press preseason top 25 and finished 14th -- while deterring from what schools like Pitt, Wake Forest, and NC State did accomplish. Swinney made clear that credit needed to be given to those teams, and he gave credit to Georgia running to a national title with just one loss on the season.
Clemson's expectation in 2022 is to return to the College Football Playoff as an ACC champion, but it's clear their pathway is filled with gravel and not concrete. Pitt, Wake Forest, and NC State are all expected to be strong challengers again, with Miami under the new direction of Mario Cristobal and a potential surprise team like North Carolina under Mack Brown potentially enter the fold.
"We were happy with what we did last year, but we're focused on this year now," Pitt defensive lineman Deslin Alexandre said. "Focused on doing everything, all the little things right to make sure we can replicate and have a better year than we did last year. Our team has been working really hard. Not really focused on what we did last year because last year is last year. We're trying to do what we do this year."
3. THE SCHEDULE SHUFFLE
The ACC is going to a new scheduling format with a 3-5-5 model from 2023 to 2026, which will also eliminate divisions and let the two top teams compete in the ACC Championship Game. Each team will have three common opponents for those seasons, with the other five rotating in for home-and-homes in two of the four years within the cycle. Pitt's common opponents are Boston College, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech.
Most coaches were in favor of the new model, but there were questions raised about its longevity and effectiveness, especially with divisions eliminated.
Here is what each coach had to say, in part, about the new format this week:
■ Narduzzi: "For me it's OK, because we've built something good in the last seven years, and it's just going to continue to go, but I feel bad that some of the other teams maybe haven't been in that championship game, haven't been Coastal Division champions, and they won't have a chance here in the future if that stays true, because I really think that helped build us."
■ Swinney: "I do think it's great for the fans. It addresses some of the issues you had with the divisions. ... This allows everyone to get everywhere, home-and-home, at least twice in their career. So, I think it was a reasonable change and something that'll probably be fun for the fans."
■ Cristobal: "It seems like an effective -- potentially effective -- model. When they run the numbers, it seems like over the years there's not much difference of what would have been a division model versus a non-division model."
■ Brown: "I was disappointed that we changed it, but it also gives our team and our coaches some opportunities to play people that they wouldn't play as often and maybe a chance for the ACC to match up better teams."
■ Mike Norvell, Florida State: "To be able to go and play in every venue throughout the four-year period of time is unique, and it ensures them the complete collegiate experience here in the ACC and then being able to pair up the best two teams within each season to be able to play in a championship game."
■ Dave Clawson, Wake Forest: "You've got to do what's best for the conference. I think for our players, for them to know in their four years at Wake Forest they'll get to play against every ACC team home and away is clearly a positive, and I think the overall is good."
■ Scott Satterfield, Louisville: "I think it's a good thing. I'm excited about that opportunity to be able to play all the teams. In a period of time when you sign a student-athlete, they're going to be able to see all the teams within the league."
■ Dave Doeren, NC State: "I'm excited about it, and excited to get to play the other teams more often. You just think that's good for the television. It's good for the fans, and it's really good for the players."
■ Jeff Hafley, Boston College: "I'm excited about the division change. Get a chance to play some different teams. You get a chance to play Pittsburgh, who, we're all the way up here, and we're constantly playing teams not around us, but to play Pitt every year when we were playing them once every six years."
■ Dino Babers, Syracuse: "I think it's going to be a lot better for a lot of people when they get an opportunity to play everybody in the league and not just a select few."
■ Mike Elko, Duke: "It's such a great thing for our fan base and our school. Any time you can keep those traditional rivalries in state, get an opportunity to play all three of our in state opponents every year, I just think that brings a lot of energy and excitement to football and the state of North Carolina."
Virginia coach Tony Elliott, Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry, and Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins were not directly asked to comment on the new format.
