Iowa QB Cade McNamara tells media, “I’ve still got it”
But just in case, Iowa has added former Northwestern QB Brendan Sullivan
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Perhaps the best way to describe the quarterback situation on the Iowa football team is that the starting position is Cade McNamara’s to either keep and solidify, or to lose.
Time and performance will tell.
McNamara and fellow Iowa quarterback Brendan Sullivan were among a handful of Iowa players that were made available to the media on Tuesday.
Both players spoke highly about the other, and about playing for new offensive coordinator Tim Lester.
McNamara is currently listed as the starter after having started the first five games last season before suffering a season ending knee injury against Michigan State.
It marked the second straight season in which McNamara’s season was cut short by a knee injury. The first injury came in 2022 when McNamara was competing with J.J. McCarthy for the starting position at Michigan.
McCarthy ultimately won the job and would go on to lead Michigan to back-to-back Big Ten titles and to the 2023 national title.
McCarthy was also picked in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings, while McNamara has played in just slightly more than four games for Iowa since leaving Michigan.
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McNamara has gained some valuable friends that have helped him cope with being injured, but he also has sort of been forgotten in some ways.
“I’ve had a lot of new people enter my life, and also recognizing your phone goes pretty dead when you’re injured,” McNamara said. “There aren’t a lot of notifications or stuff going on. The people that are in your corner, those are the people that you know you can trust.
“For me, to be honest, that group has grown, even in a time of struggle for me. So, I have a lot of gratitude toward the people that have helped me get through this process, while also my relationship with God and just leaning on him. It’s been quite the journey.”
Some might assume that Sullivan was brought in as an insurance policy, and there probably is some truth to that, given McNamara’s injury situation.
Sullivan started eight games for Northwestern, and was in position to start this season, but he still chose to enter the transfer portal.
He ultimately decided to transfer to Iowa, even with McNamara in his way of being a starter.
The chance to stay in the Big Ten Conference and to play for veteran head coach Kirk Ferentz were both big factors in Sullivan’s decision to be a Hawkeye.
“I think I’m a Big Ten football player,” Sullivan said. “So, I think whatever was best for me and I think that was playing Big Ten ball. Coach Ferentz is a good guy and runs a great program. So, it was the best fit for me.”
McNamara and Sullivan are both used to competition and they realize that it goes with the territory.
If McNamara resents that Iowa brought Sullivan in to compete for the starting position, McNamara certainly didn’t show it with the media on Tuesday.
The Iowa quarterback room was depleted after Deacon Hill and walk-on Tommy Poholsky both entered the transfer portal shortly after last season.
Their departures, coupled with McNamara’s injury, left a lot of uncertainty that had to be addressed.
“We got down to like two quarterbacks in our quarterback room,” McNamara said. “So, they’ve got to add somebody eventually. So, whoever they brought in, that’s awesome.
“But at some point, there has to be depth. You can’t just go out there, even the NFL has more than two guys. I think anywhere that we need depth and any kind of level of competition is good.”
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Sullivan just wants a chance to compete for playing time. Iowa has given him that opportunity, but with no promises.
“There’s a lot of opportunities to compete at a lot of positions,” Sullivan said. “So, I’m trying to do my best in whatever role that is.
“Everything is earned here. You’ve got to go from day one and earn everything.”
Iowa will have four quarterbacks on scholarship this season: McNamara, Sullivan, redshirt freshman Marco Lainez and true freshman James Resar.
Lainez provided a spark as a runner in the fourth quarter of the 35-0 loss to Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl. But that is his only game experience in college.
Sullivan gives Iowa a backup quarterback with Big Ten experience, which is extremely rare.
The fact that two of Iowa’s quarterbacks began their careers at two other Big Ten schools is a product of the times.
Neither came to Iowa to sit on the bench, but only one quarterback can play.
That seems especially true with Kirk Ferentz, who has a history of being very devoted and loyal to his starting quarterback.
And yet, Sullivan still chose Iowa despite McNamara’s presence.
It shows that Sullivan isn’t afraid of competition, and it sort of makes you wonder what exactly the Iowa coaches said to Sullivan to entice him to be a Hawkeye.
“We’re both guys that love competition,” Sullivan said of he and McNamara. “Cade’s been an awesome dude. I can’t say enough good things about him. He’s a great person on and off the field.”
McNamara also spoke highly about Sullivan.
“I think so far Sully has just been a real good dude,” McNamara said. “When I say, ‘hey, let’s go throw or let’s go some routes or something, like after a lift or something, he’s always there. He just seems very committed, and I think a lot of the guys appreciate that.”
As for their relationship with Tim Lester, Iowa’s two veteran quarterbacks are sort of in the same position in that each is trying to learn as much as they can as fast as they can.
McNamara raved about Lester’s offensive mind and about his ability to communicate.
“Me and coach Lester have done nothing but honestly just hit it off,” said McNamara, who is from Reno, Nevada. “He’s been a good dude. Sometimes, I’ve got to check the clock before I walk into his office just because I might walk out three hours later. He’s just a really good dude and we’ve able to share a lot of offensive philosophy together.
“I can tell that he really cares about the players and about our perspective on the offense and how we think we can make it better, whether it’s changing a route depth or changing a concept or a completely new concept. And I think that part of our offense now is what’s really cool.”
Sullivan grew up in Michigan and was recruited by Lester in high school when Lester was the head coach for Western Michigan.
Lester offered Sullivan a scholarship in high school.
“We had a fun relationship when he was at Western,” Sullivan said. “But the role he played was more I know he’s a good human being and a I know he’s a good coach. So, I can rely on that.”
Lester replaced Brian Ferentz who was fired as the offensive coordinator with four games left in the 2023 regular season.
Brian Ferentz is also the son of Kirk Ferentz, so for Brian to have been fired in season shows just how far the offense had sunk in each of the past two seasons.
Brian Ferentz has since been hired as a Senior Offensive Assistant for Maryland, while Lester is counting on McNamara, or whoever plays quarterback, to help lift Iowa’s offense back to respectability.
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Watching the Iowa offense struggle last season, and not being able to do anything about it, was excruciating for McNamara.
“It’s tough because as a competitor, and as the quarterback, you’re well aware of what kind of impact that you can have on a team,” McNamara said. “Just sitting on the sidelines there’s nothing you can do about it. At some point, you as a leader, and as player, you have to go out and do it. I think sitting on the sidelines this year was really tough for me because it’s just tough for all kinds of reasons.
“Of course, I wish I was out there with my boys. During that time, it was difficult watching games because I was more nervous for games I wasn’t playing in than when I actually played, which is a weird sensation.”
The good news for McNamara is that for the first time since coming to Iowa, he is now 100 percent from a health standpoint.
He is also further along from a development standpoint compared to last year when he was coming back from an injury.
“I think in comparison to two years ago, this rehab I’ve actually been able to throw a lot more,” McNamara said. “So, I feel like I’m a lot further ahead in terms of where my arm is at and my accuracy and everything than where I was at this time last year. So, with that being said, I’ve been able to work with coach Lester and my receivers and everything.”
Adversity doesn’t seem to have hurt McNamara’s confidence.
He knows that he has been there and done it, having led Michigan to the 2021 Big Ten title, and to the college playoff as its starting quarterback.
McNamara was asked Tuesday what gives him the belief that he still is that guy who can perform at a really high level.
“I don’t doubt that one bit,” McNamara said. “Every time we go out there in seven-on-seven or we do any kind of ( drill work) with the team, I prove to myself, and I honestly think that I prove to my teammates every single time that I grab a football, that I’ve still got it. I know that deep down in me and I know that’s not going to leave.”
But just in case, Iowa has another veteran Big Ten quarterback to lean on, one who is usually the first to arrive at the practice facility as early as 5 a.m. and the last to leave.
Sullivan apparently was the same way at Northwestern according to new Iowa receiver Jacob Gill, who also transferred from Northwestern this offseason. Gill and Sullivan were roommates at Northwestern.
“He’s the first guy in and the last guy out, Gill said of Sullivan. “It’s just the mentality he’s always had. He’s a competitor, a gritty guy. That’s what I love about him.”