It’s rare that Stephen A. Smith can stun his First Take colleague Ryan Clark to the point of silence, but that’s practically what happened on Monday’s episode of the flagship ESPN morning show.

Detouring from a segment about Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, Smith called back to one of the show’s prior topics about whether Mike McCarthy was the right fit as head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then, out of nowhere, Smith gave a full-throated endorsement of Ryan Clark who, in his estimation, should’ve at least been interviewed for the job.

“I want to state for the record, and I’m not joking about this, I’m dead serious. I believe that Ryan Clark should’ve been interviewed for the [Pittsburgh Steelers head coaching] job.”

– Stephen A. Smith believes his colleague deserved a call from the Steelers pic.twitter.com/L3znehJ9Cb

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 26, 2026

“I’m very upset, going back to the Pittsburgh Steelers, because I want to state for the record, and I’m not joking about this, I’m dead serious. I believe that Ryan Clark should’ve been interviewed for the job,” the First Take host said. “And I mean it. I mean it. I believe that Ryan Clark, who I’m looking at right now, should’ve been interviewed for the job.”

“I wish I would’ve!” a stunned Clark muttered.

“Philip Rivers got interviewed by the Buffalo Bills. I’m just saying. You’re the Pittsburgh Steelers, what’s up? What’s up?” Smith questioned. “I know they love RC. I know they know he’s a Steeler for life. I know they pickup the phone and call him and defer to him and ask his advice and stuff like that. Or make sure they express their thoughts to him. How come you can’t interview the brother?”

“They love RC from a distance,” Clark joked.

“That’s right, and that’s what I’m saying. RC, Ryan Clark, should’ve been interviewed for the head coaching job of the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Smith continued. “Y’all gonna come to me years later. Remember this. Keep this in the archives. Stephen A. said it. You understand? This is what I’m talking about. These are the problems.”

Now, it’d be hard to rank this on the spectrum of Stephen A. Smith’s most outrageous takes. After all, that’s pretty much his job. But to suggest that Ryan Clark, who has absolutely no coaching experience to speak of, should have been interviewed to coach the Pittsburgh Steelers is ludicrous. Yes, it was similarly ludicrous that Philip Rivers was interviewed for the Bills’ job, but at least he coaches high school football! Clark is but a talking head on ESPN. And we saw how that experience worked for Jeff Saturday when he stepped in to coach the Colts mid-season!

The suggestion clearly caught Clark off-guard, though he at least acknowledged he would’ve taken the call if approached. But even Clark couldn’t take the suggestion seriously, laughing throughout Smith’s rant.

Maybe the future will prove Stephen A. right. Maybe we will be pulling this clip from the archives when Clark takes the head whistle in Pittsburgh. But that seems to be more of a fantasy than a real possibility. Though, Smith does love to fantasize.