(Iowa City, IA) — For the first time in his career, Iowa Head Coach Kirk Ferentz will have to miss a football game.
The Hawkeye program was told that they had a Level 2 violation in the recruiting of transfer QB Cade McNamara. In response, Ferentz has volunteered to be suspended for one game and that game will be the team’s season opener next week against Illinois St. Assistant Jon Budmayr will also be suspended for one game. The violation goes back to 2022 when Ferentz had contact with McNamara before he had officially entered the transfer portal. Why this violation is coming up now has not been revealed — Ferentz says it is still an ongoing NCAA investigation but he admits he made a mistake
Ferentz is entering his 26th year as Head Coach at Iowa and he is the longest tenured coach in major college football. This is his first ever recruiting violation of any kind involving the NCAA and it is a self imposed suspension — the NCAA still has not made a final decision on the issue. It means that Ferentz will not be allowed in Kinnick Stadium next Saturday and will have to watch the game at home. He got emotional talking about it
Assistant Head Coach Seth Wallace will direct the Hawkeyes in the opener. Meanwhile, Ferentz said that if the season started today, McNamara would be the starting quarterback for the Hawkeyes.
