Pat McAfee has come under fire from former ESPN host Katie Nolan over his reaction to the University of Utah controversy, who questioned his response to criticism and his sense of accountability.
The dispute began before ESPN's "College GameDay" visited Salt Lake City for Utah's game against Houston on Oct. 24. The university's official student experience account posted a video in which students poked fun at McAfee's personality and on-air behavior, calling him "corny" and "creepy" and jokingly asking him to keep his shirt on during the broadcast.
McAfee took particular issue with the video coming from an official university account rather than individual students.
On "The Pat McAfee Show," the former NFL punter later criticized the university over the post, questioning the environment it created.
McAfee also made it clear that he had no interest in returning to Salt Lake City. The University of Utah later deleted the video and apologized, acknowledging that the post missed the mark. ESPN also released a statement backing McAfee's concerns about safety.
The situation took another turn when McAfee later revealed that he had received online threats and disturbing messages had also targeted his family.
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Speaking on her podcast, "Casuals with Katie Nolan," Nolan questioned why McAfee appeared to take public criticism so personally despite enjoying tremendous success in sports media.
"The guy is winning in every sense of the word, and yet is constantly acting like the world is attacking him baselessly," Nolan said. "He acts irresponsibly, but then wants everyone to be responsible for his emotional well-being and to take care of him."
Nolan also brought up McAfee's decision to discuss an unverified rumor about Ole Miss freshman Mary Kate Cornett on his ESPN show, arguing that it was another example of his poor judgment. The 18-year-old faced severe cyberbullying and safety concerns, eventually forcing her to switch to online-only classes and move into emergency housing.
McAfee later apologized to Cornett and her family, acknowledged that his show had no firsthand knowledge of the allegation and said he deeply regretted the pain caused
Nolan then compared McAfee's reaction to criticism with her own experience in Apple TV's MLB broadcast booth. She suggested he might struggle to handle the kind of backlash she faced while working in the role.
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The former ESPN personality added that she would likely have been judged much more harshly had she reacted the same way McAfee did. "If I ever invoked an assassination… I'm a sensitive baby [expletive]," she said. "Pat McAfee acts like a heel and then is like, 'Why isn't everybody being nice to me? It's not cool.'"
She concluded by saying, "I hope he's doing okay. I don't mean to make light of someone's fear. I just feel like it is an irrational fear."
Nolan went on to acknowledge that McAfee brings plenty of energy and personality to ESPN's college football coverage. Still, she believes he needs to get better at handling the criticism that comes with being in the public eye.
After the Salt Lake City controversy, McAfee and the rest of the "College GameDay" crew headed to Bloomington, Indiana, for the following week's broadcast.
Although he had previously said he didn't want to return to Utah, McAfee appeared to soften his stance during the show. He even named the Utah Utes as his official College Football Playoff sleeper team, suggesting that some of the tension between him and the university may have eased.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network .
