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The Clemson Tigers, as well as a number of other programs, have once again been linked to conference realignment. Rumors are beginning to swirl about a potential departure from the ACC.
While many have jumped on board the realignment train, one Tiger insider hasn’t yet been sold. He adamantly denied the reports in a note this week.
A senior writer for TigerNet, David Hood has been following Clemson sports for some time. Just looking at his X (formerly Twitter) bio, you’ll see he’s the “longest-tenured writer covering Clemson for the same publication.”
With that being said, he’s typically a knowledgeable source when it comes to breaking news in the upstate of South Carolina.
Earlier this week, reports began to surface claiming a potential departure from the ACC for the Tigers, first posted by Post and Courier writer Gene Sapakoff.
In that story, Sapakoff quoted a source who told him that a move would be made “sooner than later,” with eyes on a possible October decision date.
Later rumors then picked up steam, linking Clemson to three other ACC programs as a “block of four.”
Most projected a desired landing spot in the SEC with schools continuing to grow unhappy with media revenue within the league. Being locked into a Grant of Rights agreement through 2036, the ACC has fallen behind other Power Five conferences in television money.
Hood doesn’t agree with that storyline, shutting down the realignment rumors surrounding Clemson.
“I know a lot of people have seen the reports the past few days that would indicate a decision on Clemson’s future plans is imminent,” he wrote. “I have been quiet because I wanted to make sure the info I had was correct… I think I have a good sense of where Clemson stands.
“There is a BOT meeting scheduled for early next month. It’s been on the books for over a year. Will there be a piece where [athletic director] Graham Neff discusses the landscape and where we stand with realignment and expansion? Absolutely. But there will be no announcement that Clemson is leaving the ACC or has an invite from someone else.”
He referenced a board meeting scheduled for mid-October as the thing that sparked the initial rumors. He says that the meeting has been planned for some time and was actually rescheduled from its original August date.
“This appears to be a normal meeting,” he suggested.
He went on to quote a trusted source who said, “Point blank, that there is no invite from another league and that Clemson doesn’t expect to announce any sort of future plans by the end of football season.”
Hood did go on to note that the school’s legal team is still investigating a potential way out of the Grant of Rights agreement that keeps the Tigers in the ACC for the next decade-plus, but at this time, the main focus is on the ACC’s revenue distribution model and the new schools that will soon enter the league (Cal, Stanford, SMU).
An interesting turn in the story which only adds to the speculation.