CLEMSON — Now that Florida State has decided to sue the Atlantic Coast Conference and challenge the league’s grant of rights and withdrawal fee, how does Clemson fit in all of this?

Does Clemson University follow suit? There are no plans to do so at the moment.

The Clemson Insider reached out to Clemson Athletics for a comment on Friday in regard to FSU’s lawsuit, and we were told by a school spokesperson that “Clemson University nor Clemson Athletics will provide any public comment on the FSU situation.”

However, what TCI can tell you from talking to sources close to the situation is that Clemson was not caught off guard by the news that came out of Tallahassee, Fla., on Friday. Clemson has been in frequent communication with Florida State for many months and has shared information when it comes to the ACC’s Grant of Rights and possible strategies as it pertains to existing the conference.

With that said, TCI was told Clemson is not locked in arms with Florida State, despite the two working close together. Clemson and Florida State share a lot of the same goals, but the approaches have been very different.

Clemson’s plan is to continue to operate behind the scenes. It’s a different tact than FSU’s, who has been open and transparent from the beginning.  Although the Tigers have not been as active publicly they have been communicating frequently with all of the parties involved and are prepared to do what it is their long term interest if the right opportunity comes along.

According to ESPN’s Andrea Adelson, FSU’s 38-page lawsuit “seeks a declaratory judgment against the ACC to void the grant of rights and withdrawal fee as ‘unreasonable restraints of trade in the state of Florida and not enforceable in their entirety against Florida State.’”

Clemson, which has to go by a different set of laws in the state of South Carolina, has no plan to announce anything publicly at this time. Clemson Athletic Director Graham Neff continues to stay firm that “Clemson will do what is in the best interest of Clemson.”

Of course, FSU has been very open about their concerns about revenue distribution from the ACC and the possibility of leaving the ACC. Florida State came out publicly with its intent at the ACC’s Spring Meetings in Amelia Island last May.

The school is upset how ACC’s school are locked into a situation that will not allow the league to renegotiate for more television revenue while the SEC and Big Ten continue to sign new deals which will allow their member institutions to make as much as $30 million more than ACC’s schools.

In the spring, the ACC hoped to alleviate some of FSU’s ill will towards the conference by adopting success initiatives to reward schools for performances in football and men’s and women’s basketball. However, FSU pushed for more money to be given to the league’s popular brands based on the value they bring to the conference.

During last August’s board of trustees meeting, the FSU board demanded a plan of action in place by August of 2024.

Thanks to Florida State being left out of the College Football Playoff earlier this month, despite being an undefeated Power 5 Conference Champion, that plan of action was escalated.

“Florida State’s decision to file action against the Conference is in direct conflict with their longstanding obligations and is a clear violation of their legal commitments to the other members of the Conference,” said Commissioner Jim Phillips and Virginia President Jim Ryan, the Chair of the ACC’s Board of Directors, in a joint statement. “All ACC members, including Florida State, willingly and knowingly re-signed the current Grant of Rights in 2016, which is wholly enforceable and binding through 2036. Each university has benefited from this agreement, receiving millions of dollars in revenue and neither Florida State nor any other institution, has ever challenged its legitimacy.”

Do not look for this issue to be resolved anytime soon, as it appears it will be headed to court. The ACC filed a 33-page lawsuit against FSU’s Board of Trustees at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse on Thursday afternoon.

“As a league, we are proud of the successes of our student-athletes and that the ACC has won the most NCAA National Championships over the past two and half years while also achieving the highest graduation success and academic performance rates among all FBS conferences, so it is especially disappointing that FSU would choose to pursue this unprecedented and overreaching approach,” said the ACC in its statement. “We are confident that the Grant of Rights, which has been honored by all other universities who signed similar agreements, will be affirmed by the courts and the Conference’s legal counsel will vigorously enforce the agreement in the best interests of the ACC’s current and incoming members.”

The outcome of Florida State’s battle with the ACC could certainly be important to Clemson’s future.