Eric Mac Lain, ACC Network/ESPN, on how college football is about to get a huge makeover

I am not inclined to be the doomsday guy, and I don't believe I'm being a doomsday guy when I say that college sports, college football, 10 years from now will not look anything like what we see today. I think we'll see a much bigger, I think we'll see a bigger tournament than 12 than we are going to. I think we will see 16. We might see more games, not fewer. I think we'll see bigger conferences than we have today.

We might see one conference. I don't know where it's going to go, but I know smart people. Eric McLean, ACC Network, the Gramlich and McLean Podcast, and I got the idea to talk about this with you, sir. I haven't gotten through it, but your most recent episode with, who's it, Don Davenport from Nashville? I think that's a fascinating discussion, so let's have it.

I don't have Don's information. Let's you and I discuss the future. First of all, I hope your summer is going well. It's hot as heck here. It's brutal, brother. I'm sweating my tail off. I was just doing some ribs out there. I'm sprinting here really quick, and you see the sweat droplets pouring off my face here. But yeah, everything that you just said there, man, different world that we're going to be stepping into.

It's going to be fascinating to see what it looks like. You're cooking outside in this. I don't even understand.

I live in Columbia, South Carolina. Unbelievable. I don't know what I'm thinking. Yeah, we have to have a discussion about it or not. We'll talk in a couple of weeks at ACC kickoff. All right, so if you had to look into a crystal ball, what do you see?

We'll get to the ACC in a second. Do you think we will see a similar looking landscape in terms of where teams are, what conferences they belong to 10 years from now? Do you think it'll look the same or similar?

I don't think it'll be recognizable, brother. I think that a lot of stuff is going to be happening very quickly. I think that it's just the world is moving. We all know that this is a big time business. We all know that this is a billion dollar business. And with TV just getting bigger, better with social media, different digital platforms, streaming platforms, all these different folks kind of want to know what their hands in this pot and seeing multiple providers having something to say about it. I think that this is going to change really, really fast.

I think 10 is probably the best number just because of certain things that are in place that will naturally cause a delay. But the farther we get, the bigger the dollars are, the more impatient people are going to become and want to act and do the things in their best interest. So I wouldn't be surprised at all if we see a mini NFL, whether that's one or two really big conferences that maybe total 40, 50 teams, the best of the best of the best. The big dogs go and do their own thing and everybody else kind of maybe stays under the NCAA or things of that nature. But I think we see the elite separate and create this super conference.

Eric McLean, ACC Network, also the Graham McLean podcast here on the Adam Gold Show. You're about the same age. I'm trying to remember the last time the ACC Operation Kickoff was in Pinehurst. You're about that age where you were probably still an active player at that time. And I remember this was the first time we started to get into the players being aware of their value and maybe they should have been getting some something financially out of the system. And I was taken aback by how few players looked at it that way. I was really stunned because we asked every player who was at Operation Kickoff that year, do you feel like you guys should be getting paid? And almost across the board, they were like, no, man, I'm good.

Like this is the opportunity to play. But the money then, 12, 13 years ago, isn't what the money is today. And I think the players have become so more aware.

Have you sensed that shift? Because when you were a player, did you feel like you deserved to be paid? I just wanted food, man. It was illegal for them to give me a bagel and a thing of peanut butter.

That's all we were fighting for was bagels and peanut butter. We didn't even know that this was possible to be getting paid. So it's fascinating.

You're absolutely right. Since what wasn't that long ago, but it's getting farther and farther, when I was a player, the landscape is completely different. We had just, kind of at the end of my career, my last year as a senior, gotten money for where we were able to live and do these different things. And the food thing my senior year, that's when it changed where you were able to provide unlimited meals and cost of attendance was a thing. So we were ecstatic of these small victories.

And so again, not even thinking what could happen down the road with NIL and pay for play and all these different things that everybody just seems to be throwing around, whether we should or shouldn't be doing it. So I think that you're aware of it. You're aware of people wearing jerseys in the stands. You're aware of why people come to watch.

And we know it's different for different players. There wasn't many 78s in the stands. There was my wife, my girlfriend at the time and my mom.

That was it. But there was a lot of number fours. There was a lot of Deshaun Watson. There was a lot of number threes, Vic Beasley and things of that nature that it feels like those guys should have been compensated for that. It's their number. And I understand fans come for the team and fans come for the university and the paw and the helmet in my situation.

But you also like to celebrate the guys that are playing too and the individuals that are superstars. So I think for a long time, we've all kind of had it in the back of our brains, but never thought that it could be what it is today and who knows what it'll be tomorrow. Yeah. I mean, the money is just going to get bigger and bigger and that's industry. So first of all, I refuse to believe that there were only two 78s in the field at Clemson.

All right. The biggest argument I hear from administrators, from fans, from people who think that they understand the mindset of young men and women, because it's not just football, but really, in this case, we're talking about football, is that, well, you know, if one player in this locker room is getting X amount of dollars, it's going to create such a negative attitude because players are jealous. Take the inside that dynamic where there is a star player and he does get X. How does the social dynamic work in a locker room? Does it destroy team chemistry? You know, I think if it does, I think the person that is allowing that to happen is a bad leader. I think that they were already a bad leader and money is just making that even more apparent. Fame and celebrity and all these different things are making that more evident. I think that we've seen an unbelievable job of these quarterbacks who inevitably are going to be the face, right? Because that's what they do. That's the nature of the sport. We wear helmets, so you can't really see us except for those pretty boys throwing the football from time to time. They have done an exceptional job. I don't know if I've read or seen or heard of a negative thing where maybe a guy's in a locker room gloating about his car deal.

He's gloating about his watch deal and all this money that he's got coming in. The only thing I've seen is quarterbacks bringing their receivers in, quarterbacks bringing their offensive linemen in, etc., etc. to help that, to understand the nature of the responsibility. And guess what? Those guys have to block for you.

Those guys have to catch the football. So why would you do anything to put that relationship in jeopardy? So I think it's a little bit of closed-mindedness to think that these young men at the end of the day and young women for other sports are going to do anything to hurt a relationship.

I mean, yeah, sure. I understand that I monetarily from a marketing and all that am not as valuable as another position. It's not as valuable as a key star basketball player. That's the nature of the world. That's the nature of the business. You go into the real world, X makes more than X. It's just the deal. And so now you learn that a little sooner. You learn that a little faster because any of my colleagues, any of my students, fellow students, can go get whatever job they want. One's going to make more than the other.

It's a fascinating argument. Eric McLean, ACC Network is joining us here on the Adam Gold Show. We're talking about the future of college athletics. Do you think at some point, because you had mentioned that we might have two, basically two major conferences that are significantly bigger than they are today.

And I agree. And I don't even know if we're going to have two major conferences as much as we're going to have one big league that maybe is separated into a north and a south or an east and a west or maybe it's four different because a lot of people thought we'd end up with four major conferences and they would all sort of compete together. I don't know how it's going to look. Do you think that they will pay players directly by then?

Probably not, because it's still amateurism, whatever that means. I think that it gets real sketchy then, man, because are we going to fire them? Are we cutting people right away? I mean, why not?

It comes with whatever you ask, but there's repercussions. Can I get rid of a player immediately who doesn't perform? And if the answer is yes, then sure, let's do it. So probably not.

Now, if players continue to unionize and there's some real traction from a group, actually a former buddy and teammate of mine, Justin Falsanelli is really spearheading this with a group that is very involved with the EA Sports deal right now and kind of putting a knock or a stop to that, then maybe if that continues with health care, all these different things that they're kind of fighting for, but you ask, ask, ask, take, take, take, there's going to be some negative that comes with it, just because now if you're an employee, employees can be fired for cause on the spot. Yeah, I mean, isn't that what Deion Sanders is doing in Colorado? He's doing something.

He's doing something. I mean, it's similar to that. He's not outright firing people, but he basically told people, you can't play here. So, you know, in a way, I mean that, I guess that's, you could certainly stay on scholarship, but you're not playing. I don't know how that's. You know, one thing kind of with that, you know, talking about guys moving on or being fired or whatever, like, just look at the transfer reporter right now. Just look at the numbers and the amount of people that are stuck in no man's land that had an amazing opportunity to get that education, to, to, to play, to practice, to be a, you know, set institution that they believed in at one time and now have nothing. I mean, are back home or, you know, just nothing.

It's a very be careful what you ask for type of deal where a lot of guys and girls are being left out of this situation here. It's funny, Eric McLean from the ACC Network is joining us here at Eric McLean on Threads. I follow you. We're all on Threads. I searched. I searched. You're, you're there.

So I hit, I hit the follow button. So your, your old coach, Dabo Swinney had said about the expanded playoff a couple of years ago that he was against it. And he points out, and I agree a hundred percent about this, that there aren't that many teams. There aren't more teams that are good enough to win a national championship, but it isn't about that.

It's about creating a bigger pool of money. It's not about these other teams can win a national championship. Maybe one can knock off one of the favorites, but basically not going to win four because ultimately there's only three or four teams every year that can do it. So I think Dabo is right. How do the players look at it?

Because I know Dabo speaks for Dabo, but how do the players look at an expanded playoff? Yeah, man, I would, I would say it's pretty close to 50-50 and it really depends where the said player is if you ask. But I would say it's 50-50 because it is tough. I remember, you know, my senior year where we played 15 games and that was the first time in my five-year career that we had played that many.

And it was hard. I mean, recovery after the season, the way you go about your business, it alters your calendar like crazy in regards to winter training and how you can continue to develop. It goes into the next semester. So now classes are in play at a whole new level and things that you're missing or, you know, just having that practice time that you never would before. So if we add, you know, a little bit more time than you ever would before.

So if we add, you know, two more games and make this thing even bigger, that even goes further, you know, into this deal. And so it is tough. From a player safety standpoint, I do think, and this is sad and it sucks and a lot of people probably won't love this take, but I think we have to start getting rid of those, you know, FCS games, those lower level games that are essentially warm up, cupcake, whatever you call them, if we're going to make more playoff games, if you want to make it more interesting, get rid of those, which I know that funds athletic departments. But this isn't a charity case.

It's a business. Right. And, you know, I think at the end of the day, if we can minimize those, maybe have like a nine or 10 game regular season, you know, all conference, wherever you look, a couple of out of conference deals.

But if you can minimize those, then I'm OK with adding the playoff games on the back end. Eric McLean is joining us here. First of all, how long did it take you to recover from that 15 game season? Man, it took like a month. It really felt like it went into my pro training and all these different things just because you were beat up. And not to mention, we played one of the best Alabama teams ever with that great defensive line. I think some of those guys are some of the highest paid defensive tackles in the league right now. Yeah. Look, you guys seem like you guys played Alabama every year. It's about a four year period where it was like, well, Clemson, Alabama are going to play at the end. You were at the beginning of that. Eric McLean is joining us. All right.

Real quick, how do you view where the ACC is? And then we'll we'll have to say goodbye. And then I'll let you get back to your I guess your ribs. Outdoor cooking in the summer is just silly. That's right, man.

The sweat is starting to dry up. So I need to go get back, get back out there and get going. Man, I tell you what, I think from a money standpoint, it's a weird spot, you know, for all the things that are obviously happening around the league. And when you see the Big Ten, even though they're kind of dealing with some issues on how that money will be distributed and the travel that's incorporated with that, the SEC, the numbers that are going there and just that money gap is going to be spread very quickly. And that's a concern. You know, Florida State, Clemson have been very vocal about that concern and looking at ways that they can maybe individually monetize things differently, where they can close that gap themselves.

The rev share deal. A lot of people have a lot of opinions about it. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to have an opinion about it or not, but whatever helps, I guess, is great. But I think it can all be solved at them, you know, from an optics standpoint by winning, by going out of conference and getting those dubs. And, you know, we have a lot of really great opportunity early in the season there where we're ACC teams go out of conference, can fly that flag on primetime standalone TV optics and get those dubs.

That's where national narratives are created. When FSU welcomes LSU to Orlando, you handle business there, things are looking really good. When NC State does their thing, Clemson, et cetera, we need those teams to stick their chest out to win when everybody's watching and then that narrative can help be shifted.

And it takes time. You know, there was a run there and still, you know, they're on it. But the SEC won so much and it was like that's all that happened.

There has to be that breakup. There has to be a conference that can step up, stick their chest out and say, let's go. We're here to compete, not to be pushed around.

Yeah. And the ACC, because of a lot of, you know, regularly scheduled rivalry games against the SEC, is in a position of maybe more than any other league of being that conference. And unfortunately, we have had a bunch of teams that have not been able to do that. The outlier there, of course, is Clemson. They have been able to win those non-conference games. North Carolina's got an opportunity against South Carolina and frankly, North Carolina should beat South Carolina.

I'll put the pressure on Mack Brown and company, but we'll see. Alright, get back out to your ribs. You're the best. I appreciate your time, Eric.

Best to Kelly. Alright. I'm sure we'll talk to her soon, but I appreciate it and we'll talk to you. We'll see you in Charlotte in a couple of weeks. Yeah, man. Be careful. Appreciate you, brother. You got it. Eric McLean from the ACC Network, the Gramlich and McLean podcast. We'll see him at Operation Football coming up in a couple of weeks.