Between the College Football Playoff inaugural tournament in 2014 and the 2020 season, the ACC was a stalwart in the tournament, whether it was Florida State in 2014 or Clemson from 2015 to 2020 representing the ACC.
The last two seasons have been uncharacteristic for the ACC, as Clemson has endured coordinator changes on both sides of the ball. The Tigers have also been devastated by Health issues, eventually derailing their College Football Playoff appearances streak.
Florida State seemed to get back on track after their own derailment at the end of the Jimbo Fisher era. Along with the debacle that was the Willie Taggart era, it has taken a second for the ‘Noles to get back on track. Mike Norvell seemingly has the team moving in the right direction after a strong 2022, and now, they are a trendy preseason championship dark horse.
Questions remain throughout the league as teams in Miami, Pittsburgh, and North Carolina have pieces in place to prevent playoff opportunities for the conference.
Here are my five key areas the ACC teams and conference have to work on heading into 2023.
1. Do everything to retain Jim Phillips as commissioner
After news that former Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren took the President & CEO position with the Chicago Bears, the first name most analysts pointed to succeed Warren was Jim Phillips.
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ESPN talking head Paul Finebaum said on McElroy and Cubelic, “I think Jim Phillips might be the best choice because he’s invested in the league. He went to school in the league. He’s been an AD at Northwestern. He nearly got the job the last time, and while some of these approaches have been criticized at the ACC, in terms of running the league from a day-to-day basis, he might get their bill better than anyone else.”
He isn’t alone in that opinion. I recently shared a similar opinion in naming top Kevin Warren replacements.
Phillips inherited bad long-term media contracts his predecessor John Swofford pushed and got approved by the conference.
When you look at the predicament facing George Kliavkoff in the Pac-12, that grim reality could be facing the ACC in a decade. Retaining strong leadership with Phillips gives the conference a steward who is all in for their membership and, more importantly, who will be aggressive in procuring a more lucrative contract.
2. Figuring out the offense and correctly develop Klubnik
Clemson has had some great college quarterbacks play for them in the Dabo Swinney era. Tajh Boyd, Deshaun Watson, and Trevor Lawrence have been immortalized in Tiger lure for their outstanding play.
When Lawrence went into COVID quarantine during the 2020 season, it was to give Clemson faithful a glimpse into the future with former five-star quarterback DJ Uiagalelei taking snaps. While Clemson split the games with Boston College and Notre Dame, Uiagalelei completed nearly 67% of his passes for 914 yards and nine total touchdowns (five passing, four rushing).
Uiagalelei took over for Lawrence in the 2021 season with plenty of expectations to continue the excellent quarterback play Clemson fans have become accustomed to. The former five-star recruit dealt with injuries around him and the lack of explosive weapons to compliment him, the Tigers who, for three seasons in a row, averaged over 43 points per game and were in the Top 5 in the country, plummeted to 82nd in the country at 26.3 points per game, the worst output for Clemson since 2010.
Last season, the much-maligned Uiagalelei couldn’t escape the critics, and finally, the play of five-star Cade Klubnik proved too good to pass up, leading Swinney to make the switch. While the offense improved and went from the 82nd scoring offense to 30th, the inability to develop a quarterback led to the termination of first-year offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter.
“[Streeter] did a great job,” Swinney said during his National Signing Day press conference Wednesday. “But I felt like it was the right time, and we weren’t quite where we needed to be. As I evaluated where we are, I felt like this was the right time. It was also the right opportunity to hire Garrett (Riley). I have no doubt he is going to make us better offensively.”
Riley was integral in the development of TCU quarterback Max Duggan who went from a quarterback who was under .500 record-wise to becoming a Heisman Finalist and Big XII Offensive Player of the Year, leading the Horned Frogs to the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Riley’s offenses in the three seasons he has been an offensive coordinator between SMU (2020-2021) and TCU (2022) have finished in the Top 15 in scoring in each season. Getting Riley and Klubnik aligned will be key for Clemson to return to the College Football Playoff in 2023.
3. Florida State needs to be more disciplined
The Seminoles enter the 2023 season as a trendy dark horse pick to win the ACC and make the College Football Playoff. For the first time since the Jameis Winston era, the Seminoles have a quarterback formidable enough to make a run at the Heisman Trophy.
Senior quarterback Jordan Travis finished last season seventh in the nation in QBR at 85.8. During the Seminoles’ six-game winning streak, Travis posted a QBR of 91.1 and accounted for 17 total touchdowns (12 passing, 5 rushing) and only two interceptions.
Highest graded QB by season since 2014 pic.twitter.com/ANUWjwbPYu
— PFF College (@PFF_College) February 24, 2023
The Seminoles defense returns nine of 11 starters, including All-American edge rusher Jared Verse and incoming transfer from Virginia cornerback Fentrell Cypress II, ranked No. 8 in PFF College’s top returning corners in the country.
Top 10 returning Cornerbacks for the 2023 season, via @Chad_Maxwick pic.twitter.com/V3EO3RVTO6
— PFF College (@PFF_College) February 17, 2023
While the foundation looks extremely bright, the Seminoles need to fix what cost them three consecutive games in 2022: penalties and turnovers. Florida State finished as the 92nd overall most penalized team in the country, and in losses to Wake Forest, NC State, and Clemson, the Seminoles were penalized 24 times for 213 yards.
That won’t get it done for Florida State, and with a rematch against LSU to open the season, a reminder of how a penalty gave FSU the game last season is a great lesson, but one LSU won’t look to do again.
4. Protecting Tyler Van Dyke
Mario Cristobal’s first season for Miami was a nightmare going 5-7 and saw significant regression from 2022 preseason Heisman hopeful Tyler Van Dyke.
Van Dyke didn’t have many healthy vertical weapons to start the season, and even more importantly, he did not have nearly enough time to scan the field to find open targets. The Hurricanes finished 109th in the country in sacks allowed per game.
One of the main staples Cristobal had coaching at Oregon was a stout offensive line he recruited and coached up. Cristobal himself was a starting tackle on two Miami national championship teams, so he sought out talent in recruiting and the transfer portal to fix the broken Hurricanes offensive line.
In recruiting, Cristobal land five-star tackle Francis Mauigoa from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Mauigoa is expected to start right away, and many scouts and analysts compare Mauigoa to former Oregon tackle and Cristobal protegé Penei Sewell because of his freakish measurables (81-inch wingspan), athletic ability, and blocking ability.
In the transfer portal, Cristobal and staff brought in seniors Matthew Lee at center and Javion Cohen at guard. Lee transferred to Miami from UCF, where he was one of the top centers at the Group of 5 level, and a two-time member of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) all-conference team. Lee was graded by PFF College at a 80.6 Run Block Grade and is equally one of the top pass protectors.
Cohen transfers in from Alabama and was ranked as the top interior offensive lineman in the Transfer Portal by 247. Cohen struggled in pass protection in 2021 and allowed 34 pressures, nine more than any Power 5 guard. During the 2022 season, Cohen received from PFF College a 99.1 Pass Blocking Efficiency Score, which was sixth amongst Power 5 guards.
5. Finding a Tar Heel Defense
North Carolina was on the fringe of making it to the College Football Playoff last season. They were 9-1 and had all but locked up a berth in the ACC Championship Game. Quarterback Drake Maye was making a name for himself, one that will see a lot of Heisman hype heading into the 2023 season.
However, the Tar Heels ended 2022 on a four-game losing streak, losing three of those games by four points or less. On the season, the Tar Heels defense finished 102nd in scoring defense at 30.8 points per game and 116th in total yards allowing 436.5 yards per game.
North Carolina head coach Mack Brown will lean heavily on veteran transfers in linebacker Amari Gainer from Florida State, safety Derrik Allen from Georgia Tech, and cornerback Armani Chatman.
Gainer left Florida State as their leading active tackler at 210 total tackles. Allen, at safety for Georgia Tech, racked up 46 tackles, two pass breakups, and one interception. Chatman at Virginia Tech appeared in 49 games and started 25 games, accruing 89 tackles, 20 pass breakups, and two interceptions.
Brown recruited well in the Class of 2023, closing in on a pair of four-star edge rushers in Jaybron Harvey, from Durham, NC, Tyler Thompson, from Cary, NC, and a 6’5” 310 pound four-star interior defensive lineman Joel Starlings from Richmond, VA who all may see action in rotation with a veteran defensive line.
