Ryan Clark fires back at Mike Florio over criticism of Bill Belichick interview on 'The Pivot'

Ryan Clark clapped back at Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio and anyone else who criticized his interview of Bill Belichick. The North Carolina coach was a recent guest on Clark’s podcast The Pivot.

Belichick didn’t go viral for a comment on Clark’s podcast. The coach and girlfriend Jordon Hudson have gone viral for other happenings on and off camera at this point, especially with in-depth reporting from Pablo Torre.

Torre was a guest on Florio’s show in which they discussed the Belichick-Hudson dynamic. While adding to his own take, Florio took a shot at Clark’s podcast interview with Belichick. Florio pointed out that Clark and co-host Channing Crowder wanted to portray Belichick and Hudson a certain way. Of course, that came on the heels of Channing apologizing to Belichick for claiming Hudson was heavily involved behind the scenes of the podcast shoot.

So with all of this in mind, Clark shot back at Florio. In the process, he explained how The Pivot does production.

“Well Mike. It wasn’t a pre show meeting,” Clark wrote on Twitter/X, responding to Florio. “Both Channing & Fred were on the same flight delayed from Miami. I was already in NY. So I was there first. As for serving the viewers we will not do that at the expense of people who volunteer to give us their time. We have had various reasons for edits, & exemptions. From contractual agreements, second thoughts, or just not liking how it felt. 

“Moving slimy in the name of clicks is not worth the integrity of our show. Jordon was not contacted nor involved in any conversation about the timing in which what we documented could be released. That conversation took place between Bill & I.”

Whatever Clark means by contractual agreements is anyone’s guess. Whether that means Belichick had requirements for what could or couldn’t be said, if it was Hudson herself, or a mutual decision, Clark left that door open to be questioned.

It was on The Pivot that Belichick addressed concerns if Hudson was a distraction. To Clark’s credit, the subject was touched on considering Hudson’s alleged involvement in HBO not doing Hard Knocks at UNC this summer and her interruptions during a CBS Sunday Morning interview, among other things.

Clark’s garnered more attention over the last couple of weeks for drama away from his football takes. He sparred with Robert Griffin III over a race conversation after the Caitlin Clark–Angel Reese foul drama. In an argument that seemed to have no winners, Ryan Clark eventually apologized and it remains to be seen where this current situation goes with Florio.