J.J. Watt is a proud Wisconsin alum. But when Pat McAfee put him on the spot when it came to giving his personal financial backing to the school to support embattled head coach Luke Fickell, the future Hall of Famer demurred.
Things have not been going well in Madison for Fickell. After a great tenure at the University of Cincinnati saw him lead the Bearcats to a surprising playoff berth, the former Ohio State star and one-time interim Buckeyes coach took on another Big Ten job with the Badgers in 2022.
However, Fickell has failed to take his success from Cincinnati to Wisconsin. He has a 15-19 career record with the Badgers and is an abysmal 2-6 this season and winless in conference play.
With speculation swirling around his future in Madison, the comments from J.J. Watt are certainly not going to help his prospects.
Pat McAfee has talked openly about his giving towards his alma mater at West Virginia to support the football program. Watt has also invested in sports, but has done so in soccer – most notably with Burnley of the English Premier League. He is also an investor in La Liga club Espanyol.
But during his weekly appearance on Wednesday, McAfee was joking around with Watt about taking some of his soccer support and allocating it towards his beloved Badgers. In response, Watt said few words but spoke volumes about the current state of the Wisconsin program.
Why don’t you help out the Wisconsin football team 😂😂
“We need to play better” ~ @JJWatt #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/sL7aYLSLZC
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 5, 2025
“We need to play better. Yes, we do,” Watt said.
McAfee then playfully said that Watt could maybe go in and give a speech to motivate the players and inspire them to victory.
“I did, it didn’t work,” Watt tersely replied.
Ouch.
That wasn’t an endorsement, that wasn’t even an empty vote of confidence. That was a hard pass when it came to J.J. Watt backing Luke Fickell and this current incarnation of Wisconsin football. Maybe that should give some solace to all the upset LSU alums about the ongoing debacle with governor Jeff Landry that things can definitely get worse, at least on the field.
That 30 seconds of video has to send chills down the spines of everyone in the Wisconsin athletic program. If that’s what your most famous and accomplished alum has to say about the current state of affairs at your school, then nobody is safe from the coaches to the players to the administrators and everyone in between.
You can mark 1:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday November 5 as the effective time and date of the end of Luke Fickell’s tenure as Wisconsin head coach. And J.J. Watt was the one to drive the final nail in the coffin.
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