Clemson football: FSU president basically confirms rumors of SEC interest

Clemson football fans who are intrigued at the proposition of joining the SEC have a little more ammunition following an interview conducted by Florida State president John Thrasher.

Thrasher, who is set to retire in August, did an exclusive interview with the Tallahassee Democrat and talked about the everchanging landscape of College Football as well as his concerns moving forward.

The one major point from Thrasher? He doesn’t want to see Florida State get left behind.

"“I just want us to be prepared…” Thrasher told Curt Weiler and Andre C. Fernandez of the Tallahassee Democrat. “My point to (FSU director of athletics) David Coburn and to (new ACC commissioner) Jim Phillips is I don’t want Florida State to be left behind. I consider us as part of the ACC, but I also know that we have a marquee name, Clemson has a marquee name. I think there might be people coming after us, I don’t know, but we’ve got to be prepared no matter what the options are.”"

Thrasher said, more than anything, it’s all about revenue and that Florida State is preparing for whatever happens in the future.

"“At the end of the day, it’s all about money. It’s about TV revenue, contracts. Nobody can leave a conference without a significant buyout penalty, including us, so it would have to be something very special for us to leave,” Thrasher said.“On the other hand, that doesn’t mean we can’t attract some other people. I think the ACC, when you put the academic side of what it’s about today against any of the other conferences, we’re head and shoulders (above), I think. That, to me, is attractive to some of the universities out there. Preparation, options, all that’s on the table. We’re getting prepared for whatever happens.”"

Clemson football should be in close contact with Florida State during this period of conference realignment

Thrasher talking about ‘preparation’ and saying things like ‘I think there might be people coming after us’ all but confirms any rumors that there is interest coming from the SEC.

The original report that the SEC had reached out to Clemson, Florida State, Michigan and Ohio State seems to be gaining more traction as we arrange the tea leaves behind-the-scenes. Though you still can’t be sure of anything, Thrasher’s comments sound of a school who is legitimately interested in leaving and that should at least cause pause for Clemson.

If Florida State was to leave for the SEC and Clemson football was left in the ACC, we could be talking about almost a detrimental situation. The same could be said in reverse, as well.

One of the major hurdles- which Thrasher addresses in passing- is the ACC’s grant of media rights, which isn’t slated to run out until 2036. An interesting point from Noles 247’s Josh Newberg– who reported that FSU was being proactive in conference realignment discussions— is that the ACC grant of right would be up for renegotiation and the conference could potentially fall apart if both Clemson and Florida State left.

If that turned out to be the case, there would be no grant of rights to have to pay.

All of that being said, this is still smoke-and-mirrors. Florida State has shown interest in leaving the ACC before and nothing has come of it. For now, we’ll still put this in the ‘rumor’ category.