AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner Jim Phillips says he is standing by every word he has said in previous settings regarding Florida State’s and Clemson’s pending lawsuits against the conference.

The Seminoles filed their lawsuit last December in hopes to get out of the league’s stringent exit fee and Grant of Rights (GOR) Agreement, while Clemson did the same on March 19. The ACC in turn countered sued, saying both are going against the GOR Agreement they agreed to back in 2016.

Both cases have already issued a ton of litigation and in all likelihood, more is to follow in the coming months.

“It is difficult. It is disruptive. It’s harmful, but that is the world we live in,” Phillips said to The Clemson Insider and several other media outlets Wednesday that covered the ACC’s Spring Meetings at the Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island. “They (FSU and Clemson) have the ability to do the things that they are doing. We will let the legal folks handle it because that is the right thing to do.”

Though Phillips claims the lawsuits have been disruptive, he even said that was not the case at the ACC’s Spring Meetings.

“It has not changed one iota about how we have interacted with them. How we have treated them and certainly how we treated the student-athlete, and it shouldn’t,” he said. “I think you have to be professional enough to understand these things happen. It warrants classy, professional treatment in return.”

FSU athletic director Michael Alford said he was not asked to leave the room at any time in the meetings. As for any chatter about FSU or Clemson wanting to leave the ACC, he said he addressed it with the room and with his colleagues, but other than that the discussions have been about scheduling, how to improve the conference and how they are going to keep investing and improving in football.

Will Clemson and FSU ultimately win their cases or settle with the ACC so they can explore other options? Time will tell. As for now, Phillips is not giving up on the hope that all parties can resolve their issues and continue to work together.

“You always stay optimistic. I think you have been around me enough, you always have to stay optimistic, and you work through these things,” Phillips said. “Again, I do not know where it is going to go, but I continue to remain optimistic. I continue to remain optimistic about our league.”

However, Clemson and Florida State do not seem as optimistic, especially the Seminoles.

“We are looking at two institutions that want success and see the changing environment in collegiate sports and want the programs to compete at the very top level,” he said. “Understand, us wanting to compete at that top level, we need to have our options available. I’m speaking really for Florida State that we need to have our options open.

“I’m assuming that Clemson is also looking at the same model that’s going on in the collegiate landscape and want their programs to compete at a national level, at an elite national level.”

Phillips wants that as well. However, his job is to fight and protect the ACC as a whole and do what he thinks is in the best interest of the conference.

“I am going to fight and protect the ACC? Absolutely, I have to do that, it is my responsibility,” he said.

What gives Phillips’ hope they could possibly get Clemson and Florida State back on board.

“When we get together and understand we have a chance to really put the support behind the student-athletes. And we are. We are addressing some of the financial pieces. Again, when you talk full distribution. You talk about success initiatives, and you talk about what we have done with the new schools, we have continued to try and close the gap.

“If we are chasing money, then we are chasing money. But I believe we are also trying to chase success. If it is just a money issue, no one can show me money equates success. Maybe you can show me some examples, but I can show you some examples also where schools have done really well on the national scene with less revenue.”

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