Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz and wide receivers coach Jon Budmayr will reportedly serve a one-game suspension stemming from a recruiting violation tied to the pursuit of graduate transfer quarterback Cade McNamara.
The suspensions are related to an NCAA investigation, but it isn’t clear yet whether the sanction is being self-imposed by Iowa or by the NCAA.
The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman was first to report the late-night Wednesday news .
McNamara transferred from Michigan to Iowa ahead of the 2023 season. The 6-foot-1, 210 pound quarterback entered the transfer portal on Nov. 28, 2022 and announced his commitment to Iowa three days later on Dec. 1, 2022.
McNamara played for Michigan during the 2020 to 2022 seasons and led the Wolverines to the Big Ten Championship over Iowa and to a College Football Playoff appearance in 2021. Then, McNamara was supplanted by J.J. McCarthy as the team’s starting quarterback early in the 2022 season.
McNamara ultimately played in just three games that season as he suffered a season-ending right knee injury.
At the time of McNamara’s transfer portal recruitment to Iowa, Budmayr was serving as an offensive analyst for the Hawkeyes. Budmayr previously recruited McNamara while serving as Wisconsin ‘s quarterbacks coach and that preexisting relationship was key in landing McNamara from Michigan.
Shortly after Iowa landed McNamara, Budmayr was elevated to special assistant to the head coach and he now serves as the Hawkeyes’ wide receivers coach.
Iowa also self-reported a Level III NCAA rules violation in February related to impermissible contact between then-Iowa recruiting director Tyler Barnes and then- Alabama offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor. Proctor transferred to Iowa and enrolled in spring classes before transferring back to Alabama . Barnes is now Iowa’s chief of staff and general manager.
McNamara was Iowa’s starting quarterback last season and played in five games in 2023 before sustaining a season-ending ACL injury on his left knee. The injury happened during the first quarter of Iowa’s 26-16 win over Michigan State .
In his four-plus games of work last season with the Hawkeyes, McNamara completed 46-of-90 passes for 505 passing yards with four passing touchdowns. During the 2021 season, McNamara threw for 2,470 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Iowa added Northwestern transfer quarterback Brendan Sullivan to the program in May. Sullivan and McNamara have been locked in a quarterback battle throughout fall camp.
Sullivan passed for 714 yards and six touchdowns and rushed 75 times for 160 yards and two scores in eight games last season with the Wildcats.
Ferentz is set to meet with the media at 1:30 p.m. CT on Thursday.
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