BOT member Drew Weatherford was among the most outspoken on Wednesday. His comments below:
"Do we want to play games moving forward or do we want to compete? It's a really simple question, and I think I know the answer from the board. I thought the President did a really good job of laying out the state of play that we're currently in. But I've thought about this a lot as an ex-player that’s now Board of Trustee member. And the simple fact is the cost of playing at the highest level is outpacing the ACC's ability to compete on a regular basis. It just is. And if you go back and look at how many wins ACC schools have had in the College Football Playoff, who other than Clemson has had meaningful wins? It's not like we have to look into the future to be concerned. We're living in the present and there's reasons to be concerned about our ability to compete, year in and year out.
"And some of those costs are really interesting that may not be apparent. But cost of NIL is a negative 10 to 15 percent outside of the athletic department. Money is going to be flying outside of athletics and to collectives. Coaches’ salaries have increased almost 10% year over year for a decade. The cost of facilities, what it cost Clemson to build their football-only facility a few years ago is gonna cost 30-40% more for us. And meanwhile not only does the SEC and Big 10 have such an advantage today, as those conferences continue to get bigger their next TV deal comes up before our TV deal, guys. So they're going to pull further ahead when they cut their new deal now that Oklahoma and Texas are in the SEC and USC and UCLA are in the Pac-12.
"The president threw out the $30 million number. That's a big number, but multiply that by 13 years. We're talking about over $400 million difference between the deficit between us and the school down the road. Not to mention a bunch of schools north of us. We're surrounded by schools that are going to have a $400 million advantage. And that's $400 million they're going to be able to invest into all of their athletic programs. Not to mention it's $400 million dollars they don't have to go out and raise from their boosters. If you play this out, that’s $400 million, I’m not saying it's all gonna end up in the collective but $400 million that they're not taking from their Booster base and their alumni base that, technically, let's say 10% of that falls into a collective. That's a big number. That's gonna be a really, really difficult thing to overcome. And I do think it's an existential threat.
"I use myself as an example. Just to play this out from a narrative standpoint. I was the most diehard FSU guy in the world growing up. Coach Bowden came and spoke at my church when I was a kid. I told everybody in the neighborhood. For 10 years I knew what I was gonna go do. I got offered. I didn't take any official visits. I committed early, started recruiting and went (to FSU). If all of a sudden some other school offered me $1 million dollars to go play there, unfortunately, I wouldn’t have been a Seminole. If it was $100,000 or $50,000 it would be one thing. But we're talking about, six figures, in some cases, seven-figure deals to go play. And that's what we're up against. You can have a kid just like me today, and there's going to be a school, many, many schools, almost 40 to be exact, that are going to have way more resources than us. And so I do think it's an existential threat.
"And this is just one board member speaking, unless something drastic changes on the revenue side at the ACC, it's not a matter of if we leave, in my opinion, it's a matter of how and when we leave. Not everyone may agree with that. But I feel really strongly about it because I don't want to play games. I want to go compete for championships moving forward. That's what Florida State is about. And, unfortunately, we're in a situation where money matters more than ever, and you cannot compete without the resources necessary."
"Do we want to play games moving forward or do we want to compete? It's a really simple question, and I think I know the answer from the board. I thought the President did a really good job of laying out the state of play that we're currently in. But I've thought about this a lot as an ex-player that’s now Board of Trustee member. And the simple fact is the cost of playing at the highest level is outpacing the ACC's ability to compete on a regular basis. It just is. And if you go back and look at how many wins ACC schools have had in the College Football Playoff, who other than Clemson has had meaningful wins? It's not like we have to look into the future to be concerned. We're living in the present and there's reasons to be concerned about our ability to compete, year in and year out.
"And some of those costs are really interesting that may not be apparent. But cost of NIL is a negative 10 to 15 percent outside of the athletic department. Money is going to be flying outside of athletics and to collectives. Coaches’ salaries have increased almost 10% year over year for a decade. The cost of facilities, what it cost Clemson to build their football-only facility a few years ago is gonna cost 30-40% more for us. And meanwhile not only does the SEC and Big 10 have such an advantage today, as those conferences continue to get bigger their next TV deal comes up before our TV deal, guys. So they're going to pull further ahead when they cut their new deal now that Oklahoma and Texas are in the SEC and USC and UCLA are in the Pac-12.
"The president threw out the $30 million number. That's a big number, but multiply that by 13 years. We're talking about over $400 million difference between the deficit between us and the school down the road. Not to mention a bunch of schools north of us. We're surrounded by schools that are going to have a $400 million advantage. And that's $400 million they're going to be able to invest into all of their athletic programs. Not to mention it's $400 million dollars they don't have to go out and raise from their boosters. If you play this out, that’s $400 million, I’m not saying it's all gonna end up in the collective but $400 million that they're not taking from their Booster base and their alumni base that, technically, let's say 10% of that falls into a collective. That's a big number. That's gonna be a really, really difficult thing to overcome. And I do think it's an existential threat.
"I use myself as an example. Just to play this out from a narrative standpoint. I was the most diehard FSU guy in the world growing up. Coach Bowden came and spoke at my church when I was a kid. I told everybody in the neighborhood. For 10 years I knew what I was gonna go do. I got offered. I didn't take any official visits. I committed early, started recruiting and went (to FSU). If all of a sudden some other school offered me $1 million dollars to go play there, unfortunately, I wouldn’t have been a Seminole. If it was $100,000 or $50,000 it would be one thing. But we're talking about, six figures, in some cases, seven-figure deals to go play. And that's what we're up against. You can have a kid just like me today, and there's going to be a school, many, many schools, almost 40 to be exact, that are going to have way more resources than us. And so I do think it's an existential threat.
"And this is just one board member speaking, unless something drastic changes on the revenue side at the ACC, it's not a matter of if we leave, in my opinion, it's a matter of how and when we leave. Not everyone may agree with that. But I feel really strongly about it because I don't want to play games. I want to go compete for championships moving forward. That's what Florida State is about. And, unfortunately, we're in a situation where money matters more than ever, and you cannot compete without the resources necessary."
