Michigan football involved in yet another suspension, this time for a tampering violation

Michigan football is a part of another suspension, but this time for another program. According to Scott Dochterman of The Athletic, the University of Iowa has suspended head coach Kirk Ferentz and wide receivers coach Jon Budmayr one game for committing a recruiting violation dealing with former Wolverine signal caller Cade NcNamara .

The transfer portal violation revolves around contact being made with McNamara before the portal officially opened up in 2022. Although it happens constantly around college football, this case must have been pretty blatant.

McNamara was the main signal caller for the Wolverines back in 2021, helping to lead the team funnily enough to a Big Ten championship victory over the Hawkeyes. During that year as the starter, McNamara threw for 2,576 yards and 15 touchdowns. He was also efficient with the football, throwing just six interceptions and completing over 64 percent of his passes.

Heading into the 2022 season, McNamara was in a fierce quarterback battle with JJ McCarthy. After some jockeying back and forth early in that campaign, McCarthy eventually unseated McNamara for good. Following that final season, McNamara opted to enter the portal and see what other opportunities were out there.

He obviously ended up at Iowa, having some decent expectations heading into his first year in 2023. Unfortunately, that season was cut short after five games, suffering a torn ACL.

Before the injury, McNamara wasn’t playing overly well. He has thrown for just 505 yards and four touchdowns, while also throwing three interceptions and completing a mere 51.1 percent of his passes. The former Michigan quarterback is now in a battle with Brendan Sullivan for the starting job in 2024, transferring himself over from Northwestern.

Coach Feretz and Budmayr will not be available for the Hawkeyes opening game against Illinois State on August 31st. Their absence shouldn’t be too much of a loss taking on the FCS foe. Iowa stands a good chance to defeat the Redbirds.

Tampering for a quarterback like McNamara is quite the decision. It’s a move that has not worked out so far, but 2024 offers another chance to get it right.