But not one Atlantic Coast Conference football coach was approached by the small gathering of reporters covering the event - until, that is, Florida State's Jimbo Fisher exited.
Though it had been more than 48 hours since Fisher and Board of Trustees chairman Andy Haggard made comments that seemed to indicate FSU was open to overtures from the Big 12 or other conferences -- and 36 hours since FSU president Eric Barron had tried to squash the ordeal -- the story clearly hadn't lost any steam.
STORY: FSU president responds to questions about Big 12
STORY: Florida State storm subsides as ACC meetings open
Fisher tried to distance himself from the controversy one day earlier in an interview with the Democrat, and he did so again when national reporters arrived here Monday.
"I said the powers that be will make the decisions for Florida State," Fisher said. "That's the Board of Trustees and the (university) president. That's all I said that day. They'll do what's best for Florida State.
"We're in the ACC, and that's where we're at. I'm not a decision-maker."
At the heart of the debate seems to be FSU's dissatisfaction with the conference's recently renegotiated television contract. According to reports, it could pay roughly $3 million less - per school, per year - than what some other conferences are taking home.
But Fisher acknowledged Monday that he didn't have access to the contract details and wasn't qualified to form a strong opinion. He also said he has not offered any input to FSU's leaders about conference alignment.
"I don't know the ramifications of what's going on," Fisher said. "I don't know the details of the contracts or anything else. I'm sure they'll ask all coaches, if that was ever (approached). But (leaving for the Big 12) has never been brought to the table, and that is not on the table to my knowledge."
BCS playoff discussions
One of the main items on the football coaches' agenda this week is reviewing proposals for a Bowl Championship Series playoff system - with the likely scenario featuring four teams playing a round of semifinals followed by a national championship game.
After Monday's meeting, Fisher said the ACC coaches all seemed to agree that teams that win their conference championships should be selected ahead of other teams in their conferences.
"I think there has to be some stipulation in there about champions," Fisher said. "Being a conference champion is no small task. I think there has to be a lot of weight given to conference champions."
New blood
After the basketball coaches broke from their morning meeting, Florida State's Leonard Hamilton stayed behind for about 20 minutes with the ACC's two newest coaches - Jim Boeheim of Syracuse and Jamie Dixon of Pittsburgh.
Those two schools won't start competing in the league for at least another year, but their coaches are attending their first ACC meetings this week.
"I think this has been good - to have those guys included," Hamilton said. "They bring some different perspectives to the meetings that I believe is (beneficial)."
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomCollegeSports-TopStories/~3/ysDc5DakKwo/1
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