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ESPN’s Ryan Clark has issues with Governor Jeff Landry.
This week, Landry has drawn ire from LSU fans for inserting himself in the team’s coaching search following the Brian Kelly fiasco.
“This is a pattern,” Landry said. The guy here now that wrote that contract cost A&M $77 million. Currently, we have a $53 million liability, and we will not repeat that mistake. And you know what? I believe we’re going to find a great coach. Maybe we’ll let President Trump pick it. He loves winners. … No, I can tell you right now Scott Woodward is not selecting the next coach,” Landry said. “Hell, I’ll let Donald Trump select it before I let him do it.”
During the week, Landry also went viral when he proposed to build a statue of Charlie Kirk on LSU’s campus.
I’m calling on @LSU to honor the legacy of Charlie Kirk by putting up a statue of him on campus.
There is no better warrior for free speech than Charlie Kirk, and we must continue his legacy on every campus in America. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/SqzwVaEfZU
— Governor Jeff Landry (@LAGovJeffLandry) October 28, 2025
On Thursday’s edition of ESPN’s First Take, Clark blasted Landry for wanting to erect a statue of Kirk on LSU’s campus.
“It’s the second most ridiculous thing he said this week. The first was standing on campus and saying he wanted to put a statue 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 work there. That was the first dumb thing he said this week, Clark said.
Ryan Clark responds to Gov. Jeff Landry vowing to keep LSU AD from hiring next coach
“Second most ridiculous thing he said this week. The first was standing on campus and saying he wanted to put a statue of somebody (Charlie Kirk) that doesn’t represent the people of Louisiana” pic.twitter.com/vbLmKU1AlF
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 30, 2025
Clark also blasted Landry for criticizing LSU AD Scott Woodward.
“To me, this is another situation of politicians poking their nose into things that they don’t know about,” Clark added. “I honestly believe it was so he could get in front of a microphone and say, ‘look at this connection I have with the president and he likes to pick winners so he could placate to someone he idolizes
“You don’t know nothing about football. There’s enough going on in the state of Louisiana that needs to be fixed for its constituents. I don’t need you tweeting on Saturday night about what’s going on at Tiger Stadium. There is too many issues happening right there under your nose that ain’t got nothing to do with sports.”
It doesn’t seem like Landry is backing down from controversy anytime soon because he went on ESPN’s Pat McAfee show to double down on his takes about LSU’s coaching search.
“The next coach that we hire is gonna have a completely different contract..
These big name coaches are big names because they win” ~ @JeffLandry #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/mT0dCJVeHr
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 30, 2025