Dolphins miss out on ‘coach on field’ in Ryan Clark

When Middle Tennessee State defensive backs coach Steve Ellis served an internship with the Pittsburgh Steelers at their 2008 training camp, he came away more impressed with one player than any other: safety Ryan Clark. “He was a coach on the field,” Ellis said Monday. “The younger guys on their team looked up to him. In fact, if they needed to learn something, they came to Ryan, not the coaches. He knew that defense inside out.” Ellis said he would have been surprised if the Steelers let Clark get away, and apparently now they haven’t. After spending the day meeting with the Dolphins Monday, Clark reportedly will re-sign with Pittsburgh, where he hopes to finish his career. A 5-foot-11, 205-pounder out of LSU who had stints with the New York Giants and Washington before spending the last four years in Pittsburgh, Clark was called “the smartest player I ever coached” by Scott Bainsfather, coach of Archbishop Shaw High School in the New Orleans suburb of Marrero, La. “He could figure out coverages over the course of a game, and nobody does that in high school,” Bainsfather said. “We had Tory James here (who played in the NFL from 1996-2005) and he was nowhere near his level of intelligence.” Clark’s career was believed to be in jeopardy when, during a 2007 game at Denver, he left the game and was rushed to the hospital with what turned out to be a

rare blood disorder that was triggered by the combination of exertion and high altitude. He had his gall bladder and spleen removed. He missed the remaining 10 games of that season, but returned to help the Steelers win Super Bowl XVIII the following year and set a career high with 89 tackles last season. He also matched his career high with three interceptions, including one against Miami in Pittsburgh’s 30-24 win in the season finale. ESPN-760AM broadcaster Pat Rooney Jr., whose family owns the Steelers, said Clark’s willingness to give up his body to make a hit might impact how long he sticks around. If Miami had signed him, Rooney said, “They’d probably get a couple of good years out of him, but he does throw his body around a lot, and that tends to shorten your career.” Hall of Famer Rod Woodson said those kind of plays, as evidenced by this hit on Baltimore’s Willis McGahee in last year’s AFC Championship Game, can also make a loud statement to your team. “It’s like Ronnie Lott,” Woodson said. “Not that I’m comparing Clark to Lott, but Lott would make some big hits in games that would change the whole tone of the game for the 49ers. You want to have that toughness element in your defense, and he would bring that.” He won’t now, apparently.

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Dolphins miss out on ‘coach on field’ in Ryan Clark

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