Jon Budmayr deserves chance to show he isn’t just an easy, convenient hire
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The announcement on Wednesday that Jon Budmayr has been elevated to the Iowa receiver coach hardly came as a surprise.
The surprise would have been if somebody else had been hired for the position.
Budmayr had been considered the leading candidate, and perhaps the only candidate, to replace Kelton Copeland throughout the search.
No other name even surfaced as a potential candidate during the hiring process.
It seems that it was Budmayr’s job from the moment Copeland was let go, which causes you to wonder about the field of candidates.
“Jon is an excellent coach and a perfect fit for this position,” said Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz. “He has a wealth of knowledge and a familiarity with our program that make him a natural to take this role.”
There is no denying that Budmayr is familiar with the Iowa program with him having spent the past two seasons as part of the support staff.
He was an offensive analyst in 2022 and then was named Senior Special Assistant to Head Coach for the 2023 season.
The problem is that Iowa suffered through a stunning decline from a statistical standpoint in each of the past two seasons with Budmayr on the staff.
And fair or not, Budmayr is guilty by association in this case.
The struggles on offense ultimately cost Brian Ferentz his job as his father’s offensive coordinator, as well as Copeland’s job as receiver coach.
Former Western Michigan head coach Tim Lester was hired as the new offensive coordinator on Jan. 31, and now two weeks later, Kirk Ferentz has filled the second position that was open on offense.
Lester presented himself well during his press conference, and from an experience standpoint, he is certainly a step up from Brian Ferentz.
Lester played quarterback for Western Michigan where he passed for over 11,000 yards, and he has also been a quarterback coach, an offensive coordinator, and a play caller.
Lester might not have been Kirk Ferentz’s top choice as there are reports that former Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst turned down the job.
Lester also wasn’t the top choice for some fans based on the reaction to him being hired.
But Lester seems more than qualified for the job.
He at least deserves a chance to help fix Iowa’s ailing offense, as does Budmayr.
However, the decision to hire Budmayr, who played quarterback for Wisconsin before injuries derailed his career, isn’t as easy to understand partly because he has virtually no experience with coaching receivers.
Budmayr climbed the ladder mostly by coaching quarterbacks for his alma mater.
He was also Colorado State’s offensive coordinator and quarterback coach for one season in 2021 before coming to Iowa.
So, it’s not that Budmayr is inexperienced, nor is coaching football rocket science.
But considering how much the offense has struggled since Budmayr joined the staff, and with how little the receivers have produced during that time, Kirk Ferentz’s decision to elevate Budmayr to receiver coach seems peculiar, and some might even say it’s disappointing, or that it was mostly just a convenient hire.
The Iowa offense has been widely criticized and mocked, so perhaps that made it hard for Kirk Ferentz to attract some potential candidates.
The receiver position has rarely been a strength during Kirk Ferentz’s 25-year run as the Iowa head coach.
Right now, however, the position is as weak as it has ever been under Kirk Ferentz.
There were times this past season when Iowa struggled just to complete passes to wide receivers.
But instead of hiring a proven receiver coach, Kirk Ferentz hired someone that hasn’t coached the position, nor did Budmayr play the position.
It could be argued that the decision to elevate Budmayr doesn’t show any sense of urgency at a time when there should be a sense of urgency.
Maybe it was naive to think that Kirk Ferentz would approach this hire with a sense of urgency.
Kirk Ferentz blamed injuries for most of the problems on offense this past season, and he also said to the media in December that he had no plans to switch to the run-and-shoot offense.
That was basically Kirk Ferentz’s way of saying that it was business as usual on offense, even with two changes on the staff, and despite all the problems on offense.
Kirk Ferentz still believes that his approach to offense can be successful and that success mostly comes down to doing what Iowa does, but just doing it better.
There is always the chance that Jon Budmayr will excel in his new position, and Kirk Ferentz certainly knows more about hiring coaches than those that cover his team, or that cheer for his team.
So again, Budmayr deserves a chance to prove himself and to show that he wasn’t just a convenient hire.