ESPN analyst Ryan Clark unloads on Louisiana governor Jeff Landry, praises Scott Woodward

LSU became the center of the college football world over the weekend and has since been the center of controversy. In no small part because Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has been extremely vocal about athletics director Scott Woodward.

Landry stated in no uncertain terms at a press conference that Woodward, who hired Brian Kelly, will not be picking the next coach. He also said that the task would fall to the LSU Board of Supervisors, apparently unbeknownst to the board.

“First off, it’s the second most ridiculous thing he said this week,” ESPN analyst and former LSU star Ryan Clark said on First Take on Thursday. “The first was standing on campus and saying he wanted to put a statue up of somebody that doesn’t represent the people of Louisiana, doesn’t represent the players and the students at LSU, doesn’t represent the executives that worked there. That was the first dumb thing he said this week. This is the second dumbest, amongst a lot of dumb things that he says.”

Clark would go on a nearly two-minute rant about Landry’s comments, which he viewed as detrimental to the program and out of touch with the reality of the situation. He addressed the latter.

“Scott Woodward, for whatever he is, is a man who got Jay Johnson, right?” Clark pointed out. “Last I checked, the 2025 Louisiana State University Tiger baseball team was in the White House getting the gat recently. He was there in 2019, when it was one of the greatest college football teams of all time. He also was there when he said, you know what, we’re going to go out and get Kim Mulkey. She brings a championship to the school with Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson.”

In other words, for the relative lack of success Brian Kelly had — and that can certainly be debated, as he won 34 games in three and a half seasons — Woodward’s overall track record deserves some respect. Clark suggested Landry might have ulterior motives in getting involved in the LSU situation.

“So to me this is another situation of politicians poking their nose into things that they don’t know about,” Clark said. “And I honestly believe it was so he could get in front of a microphone and say, ‘Look at this connection I have to the president, and he likes to pick winners’ to placate someone that he idolizes.”

Landry had said that he would let President Donald Trump pick the next LSU coach before Scott Woodward. Clark wasn’t finished there.

“You don’t know nothing about football,” he said. “There’s enough going on in the state of Louisiana that needs to be fixed for its constituents, where I don’t need you tweeting on Saturday night about what’s going on in Tiger Stadium. There is too many issues happening right there under your nose that ain’t got nothing to do with sports.”

Clark finished with a defense of Scott Woodward. He believes Woodward deserves to hire the next coach.

“Scott Woodward is a good man. Scott Woodward is a man that cares about LSU,” Clark said. “And the greatest times, back in the day, he understood what it was like to be a part of a winner, and he’s brought more winners back to the school. He didn’t miss because Brian Kelly wasn’t capable. He missed because Brian Kelly was no longer willing. Brian Kelly was no longer tapped in. Brian Kelly didn’t care if the people of Louisiana cared about him, and he didn’t care if the players knew that he cared about him. That’s where it went wrong. Not in picking a man who was the winningest all-time coach in Notre Dame history.

“So for me, it’s emotional, clearly, and it pisses me off, but Scott Woodward deserves to pick the next head coach. And the governor should stay out of it.”