John Joseph Ryan was an American football and basketball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the College of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota from 1911 to 1912, at Marquette University from 1917 to 1921, and at the University of Wisconsin from 1923 to 1924, compiling a career college football record of 44–11–11. Ryan was also the head basketball coach at Marquette from 1917 to 1920, tallying a mark of 13–9.

The Wisconsin Badgers football program represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the sport of American football. Wisconsin competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. The Badgers have competed in the Big Ten since its formation in 1896. They play their home games at Camp Randall Stadium, the fourth-oldest stadium in college football. Wisconsin is one of 26 College football programs to win 700 or more games. The program has been one of the most successful programs since the 1990s. Wisconsin has had two Heisman Trophy winners, Alan Ameche and Ron Dayne, and has had twelve former players inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.