The consensus, as things wound down in Amelia Island, Fla., on Thursday, was that the ACC meetings were relatively drama-free. There were no new members like Louisville to welcome, no important votes looming.
At least not on the ACC level.
There are still important national issues to be addressed, though, and the ACC made its stance clear on a few of them -- satellite camps, most notably.
On Thursday, ACC commissioner John Swofford reiterated that the league opposes the camps and will try to push through legislation to ban them, but he also called the spring meetings more of a "nuts and bolts" session, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Even cost of attendance, which was approved by the league in January, still has to have some details ironed out. The graduate transfer rule might come up for a vote as well, since some coaches are upset that fifth-year seniors can graduate from their chosen school and transfer to another without sitting out. The ACC didn't vote on the rule, but Swofford said, "Personally, you would hate to penalize a student athlete who has graduated and done things correctly academically."
That's a stance many college administrators haven't taken.
However, Swofford said the league itself has not adopted an official position.
The nine-game conference schedule in football was on the table last year, but it didn't gain any traction. It may come up again, but right now, the coaches are just fine with eight games. Swofford also discussed the possibility of the ACC Network, a league-specific television network, and even the chance of playing football games overseas to expand the league's profile. Realignment of the conference's two football divisions was brought up.
But ultimately it was all just that -- discussions.
If anything, the only real contentious part of the proceedings came when College Football Playoff Chief Operating Officer Michael Kelly and Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich (a committee member) sat down in a room with coaches, and they let the two know that they weren't pleased with the league's perception, according to ESPN.com.
Both the coaches and Swofford know there's work to do in terms of changing the national estimation of the ACC's strength and depth, and the league has already started to put in some of that work. Perhaps Florida State being slotted third in spite of its undefeated record in the inaugural College Football Playoff contributed to this.
Swofford said he would support an eight-team playoff -- and that he thinks the number will eventually get there -- but he also said it will likely stay at four for the remainder of the contract (11 years).
"In a perfect world and a purely football sense, I thought eight was a really good number," Swofford said, per the Palm Beach Post. Swofford acknowledged the scheduling difficulties, though, and added: "I think we're at four for all the right reasons."
Meanwhile, major, sweeping changes in the ACC -- and perhaps in the college football landscape, now that conference expansion appears to have died down -- may just have to wait.
