Iowa head coach, former Wisconsin assistant suspended for recruiting violation

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz and WRs coach Jon Budmayr will be suspended for the first game of the 2024 season due to a recruiting violation, as first reported by The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman.

The Hawkeyes open their 2024 season against Illinois State on Aug. 31. Both coaches will then be back for the rivalry matchup against Iowa State the following week.

Dochterman’s report notes that the violation comes from the program’s recruitment of former Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara when he entered the transfer portal after the 2022 season. Ferentz and Budmayr reportedly pursued the veteran quarterback before he officially entered the portal, which led to him committing to the program only three days after entering.

Budmayr, who is currently Iowa’s wide receivers coach, was a special assistant to the head coach when this situation took place. The former Badgers quarterback (2009-2011) was previously a graduate assistant (2015), quality control coach (2016-2017) and quarterbacks coach (2018-2020) at Wisconsin.

He left to take the Colorado State offensive coordinator job in 2021 before eventually landing at Iowa.

This news does not affect Wisconsin’s Nov. 2 trip to Iowa this season.

What will, however, is the Hawkeyes’ ongoing quarterback battle between McNamara and Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan.

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