Ryan Clark believes Alabama's next coach 'ain't gonna be the right coach'

It is worth noting that ESPN football analyst and commentator Ryan Clark is an LSU alum. It’s an important tidbit to keep in mind when considering Clark’s opinions about the Alabama football head coach vacancy left by Nick Saban and who might fill it.

And Clark certainly has opinions. Opinions he shared at length on ESPN’s “First Take” on Friday morning.

“I don’t even care what the topic is. I want to talk to all you Louisiana folks who was driving around Louisiana, all in Baton Rouge, with your Roll Tide license plates, with your little funky Alabama flags on your windows, walking around with some little elephant ears and trunk and all that. Go ahead and put it all up because ain’t none of y’all finna be happy with these eight- and nine-win seasons with whoever takes over the job. I do not care who’s the next coach because he ain’t gonna be the right coach because he ain’t gonna be Nick Saban. And that’s why nobody wants the job,” Clark said.

Ryan Clark — who happens to be an LSU alum — says that it doesn't matter who replaces Nick Saban and that nobody wants the Alabama job. pic.twitter.com/8Dx4uzJHXn

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 12, 2024

He pointed out that Oregon’s head coach, Dan Lanning, who was previously the Georgia defensive coordinator and was a GA under Saban for a year early in his career, has shot down public overtures that he’s taking the gig.

Then Clark compared the Alabama opening to Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. Over the summer, the team placed a non-exclusive franchise tag on Jackson, meaning other teams could try to sign the superstar quarterback as a free agent or trade for him, but with the Ravens getting a chance to counter that offer. Basically: Any NFL team that wanted to take a run at adding Jackson could’ve. Somewhat conspicuously, no other teams did (and Jackson is now the likely league MVP on the No. 1 seed in the AFC).

“People right now are treating the Alabama job like people treated Lamar Jackson last year when you had an opportunity to trade for him. Everybody was all loud. ‘I don’t want the job. I don’t want Lamar Jackson. No, we ain’t even gonna kick the tires.’ Dan Lanning, he don’t want the job. Texas said Steve Sarkisian, he don’t want the job. Nobody wants to go after seeing Nick Saban and Alabama. Nobody wants it,” Clark said.

He harkened back to his SEC playing days to further drive home the point. During Clark’s five years at LSU from 1997-2001, the Crimson Tide went 31-28. That span included a three- and four-win seasons, as well as a 10-win Orange Bowl team in 1999.

The Alabama that Clark faced then, the Alabama that lost a handful of games most years, the Alabama that existed for a few decades before Nick Saban built his dynasty, the Alabama that he thinks might be coming back soon, is not enough to sustain elite football on it’s own.

“And I played in the SEC. When Alabama wasn’t Bear Bryant’s Alabama and it wasn’t Nick Saban’s Alabama. Y’all think people really want to go to Tuscaloosa? Tuscaloosa ain’t cool. People went to Tuscaloosa for Nick Saban. And he gone,” Clark said.