he wasn't the only person at ACC HQ guilty of it. You are probably right that Phillips has reviewed everything regarding the ACC's current situation including the TV contract(s) and GOR. If he discovered anything that raised any concerns/alarms for him, then his first thought was probably "What in the H-E-double hockey sticks have I gotten myself into here?" Then his next move, assuming he didn't need to change clothes, would be talk to the other upper brass and legal team at HQ to make sure he was reading the documents and assessing the situation correctly. If he received confirmation that he was correct, then his first thought was probably "What are the legal ramifications for the ACC if this information ever became public knowledge?" It is likely any scenario given wouldn't be good news for the ACC and maybe even ESPN, so a potential (natural?) reaction/decision would be to try to play ignorant for as long as possible and hope it never sees the light of day. At least I don't think anything good would have come from Phillips exposing the situation, even if it is the right thing to do here, because only more harm than good could come from it. You might even say it could be/would be career suicide if Phillips had done the right thing. You are right that this could play out so that Swofford, the ACC, and ESPN could all look bad if it is definitely proven that shadiness was used by any/all parties involved to get the ACCN and GOR deals done. Depending on what information becomes public knowledge, I guess it could prompt the DoJ and other federal entities to see if any federal laws were broken in the process. Even though the other conferences weren't directly involved in the 2 deals, they could get a little nervous because the federal government could always decide to expand its inquiries which could bring the current collegiate structure down like a house of cards.