Ryan Clark texted Lane Kiffin about LSU job every day after Brian Kelly firing

As the college football world waited to see where Lane Kiffin would go this fall, ESPN’s Ryan Clark was in constant communication with the man himself.

In a recent appearance on the Club 520 podcast, Clark, an LSU alum and star broadcaster, revealed that from the moment the school fired Brian Kelly until Kiffin was named the Tigers’ next head coach, he texted Kiffin each and every day.

And over time, Clark not only became convinced that Kiffin would be the pick, but also that he would be a great fit in Baton Rouge.

“Let’s just say I knew Lane was gonna be our head coach a long time before the rest of the world,” Clark said. “As soon as BK was fired, that was my pick. That was who I wanted, had conversations with people at the school who were going to be decision-makers. I would probably say once the process started, there wasn’t a day I don’t have a text with Lane Kiffin. I’ve got more group chats with Lane Kiffin than I do my real home boys.”

Clark, who cleverly avoided the accusations about conflicts of interest at ESPN in its coverage of the Kiffin story, recalled a message he received from Kiffin at one point in the prolonged hiring process, with a photo of Tiger Stadium calling it “the best place to play football in the country.”

In response, Clark told Kiffin that what made LSU even more special is the passion and purpose of the Tigers faithful who show up to the stadium every Saturday. And Clark felt that Kiffin understood the community and the pride it took in the team better than his predecessor.

“That dude’s excited to work there, and that’s what you want,” Clark explained.

“Brian Kelly wasn’t excited to coach there … he felt like he was doing us a favor by coaching there. You know man, down South folks, country folks, we don’t like that. You gotta embrace what we embrace, you gotta care about what we care about. Because if you don’t, we’re not gonna fool with you. And if we’re in that space with you, you’ve gotta win all the games. If you win all the time, you can be the biggest a** you want. But if you a turd and you suck, we gotta holler at you.”