We know sports talk shows tend to go off the deep end at times. That's what we just witnessed from ESPN's Stephen A. Smith. On a Monday showing of First Take, Smith suggested that, before hitching their wagon to long-time NFL head coach Mike McCarthy, the Pittsburgh Steelers should have interviewed Ryan Clark.
Smith went on a rant about why Art Rooney II and the Steelers should have picked up the phone to interview Clark for the head coaching job.
"I'm not joking about this; I'm dead serious: I believe that Ryan Clark, whom I'm looking at right now, should have been interviewed for the [Steelers head coaching] job...
Philip Rivers got interviewed by the Buffalo Bills. I'm just saying, if you're the Pittsburgh Steelers, what's up? I know they love R.C. I know they know he's a Steeler for life... How come you can't interview the brother? You're going to sit up here and bring Mike McCarthy back at 62 years old."
Clark, a fellow analyst and former Steelers player, was caught off guard by Smith's remarks live on the air on First Take. The former Steelers safety didn't object, as he said that he wished he had been interviewed.
To justify his reasoning for such a wild sentiment, Stephen A. pointed to the Buffalo Bills' interesting decision to interview Philip Rivers, fresh off playing quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts late in the 2025 season.
While we can't say for certain that Clark wouldn't make a good NFL coach, Smith's remarks were completely out of line (and with no respectable argument to back up his suggestion).
The Pittsburgh Steelers won't care what Stephen A. Smith has to say about Mike McCarthy
Smith is clearly a critic of Pittsburgh's head coaching hire, noting that Mike McCarthy is a 62-year-old head coach. But it's beyond bizarre to think that Ryan Clark was the missing candidate for the job.
Since hanging up his cleats after the 2014 NFL season, Clark was quickly hired by ESPN as an analyst just months later in February 2015. He's spent the past decade as a football personality on TV. Though he's coached high school football (like Rivers), Clark has zero coaching experience at the college or NFL level.
If Stephen A. Smith wants to complain about the Steelers' hiring process, be my guest. After all, most Steelers fans have spent time voicing their frustration since the decision was made over the weekend. However, it was off base for the ESPN analyst to insist that Clark should have gotten a head coaching interview with the Pittsburgh Steelers just because he used to play safety for them.
If Smith had been doing his homework, he could have made the case for the Steelers to at least have an in-person interview with names like Klint Kubiak, Chris Shula, or Nate Scheelhaase before rushing to such an important decision—that's something all fans can get on board with.
But to suggest that his ESPN colleague, Ryan Clark, should have been considered for the Steelers head coaching job is ludicrous.