Interview: One-on-one with Kah'ni Watts, Wisconsin's last-second flip on signing day
Kah'ni Watts flipped from Houston to Wisconsin late on the early signing day. Badger Backer caught up with Wisconsin's last-second addition to the 2026 class.
The Wisconsin football team announced the signing of 13 members of its 2026 recruiting class in the early signing period. It’s a smaller class, but according to head coach Luke Fickell in his signing day press conference, that’s by design.
One area the Badgers recruited hard but continued to come up just short was at the safety position. Heading into the early signing day, they did not have a safety in their class. In fact, they didn’t have one until the late hours on Wednesday, when their persistence paid off and they flipped Kah’Ni Hill, a 3-star safety out of Iowa Colony High School in Texas, who had been committed to Houston.
So why would Watt’s who had been committed to Houston since June, make a last-second decision to flip his commitment to the Badgers, who had offered him a scholarship just the day before signing day?
“I woke up Wednesday morning with my mind set on going to Houston,” Watts told Badger Backer. “But right before I was getting ready to sign, I had a few conversations with Coach Cooper and had a change of heart. The plan they have for me, they put dudes in the NFL, and that’s where I want to be.”
“Me and Coach Cooper had been back and forth on and off the phone almost every day leading up the Wednesday,” Watts says.
Jack Cooper, a former defensive assistant for the Badgers, was promoted to take over coaching the safeties this past offseason after Alex Grinch left the Badgers to become the defensive coordinator for the UCF Knights. Cooper is highly thought of as an up-and-coming coach.
Cooper, as the lead recruiter for Watts, got his first committed player for the Badgers. He and Watts had been in communication frequently heading into Wednesday.
Watts made a leap of faith, committing to the Badgers without even setting foot on campus. The new Wisconsin safety instead took a virtual visit, getting a look at the Badgers’ facilities.
“I’ve never been [to Madison]. I mean, it does make me nervous, but we did a virtual visit, and I was still able to see a lot. It’s a great program with great facilities and probably one of the best campuses in the world.”
The Texas native won’t have to wait long to get his first taste of Wisconsin weather. He will be on campus in January, enrolling early to get a head start on his freshman season.
Wisconsin could have easily gone to the portal to find a safety and then focus on finding another one in the next cycle, so what did the Badgers see in Watts to work so hard to flip him?
“They love my athleticism, my ability to be physical in the run game, and take the ball out of the air in the passing game.”
According to MaxPreps, Watts played in 14 games this season and tallied 73 total tackles, 6.0 tackles for a loss, and a sack. He also had four interceptions, six pass deflections, and two fumble recoveries en route to helping the Pioneers to a 12-2 overall record.
It’s no secret that the Badgers have not been playing up to the standard of Wisconsin football in quite a few years. But like many of the recruits in this class, that’s not a reason to shy away from signing with Wisconsin.
“Nah,” Watts says in regards to having any concerns with Wisconsin’s recent success. “I definitely look at it as more of a challenge. The past few years don’t concern me. I believe in Coach Fickell and his plan to turn the program around.”
The safety room at Wisconsin will be largely inexperienced with the departures of Austin Brown, Preston Zachman, and Owen Arnett. Freshman safety Remington Moss will also depart after recently announcing his intentions to enter the transfer portal.
Watts will join Matthew Traynor (So.), Grant Dean (Fr.), Luke Emmerich (Fr.), Raphael Dunn (R-Fr.), Matthew Jung (R-Jr.), and Charlie Jarvis (R-Jr.) as the safeties on the current roster.
Needless to say, Watts is ready to be a Badger.
“I’m ready to get to work!”
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