Kirk Ferentz facing one-game suspension for apparent recruiting violation
IOWA CITY, Iowa – For the first time in his long and distinguished career as the Iowa football coach, Kirk Ferentz will not be on the sideline coaching the Hawkeyes on game day.
Hawk Fanatic has learned through multiple sources that Kirk Ferentz and receiver coach Jon Budmayr will be suspended for the Aug. 31 season opener against Illinois State as part of a one-game suspension apparently stemming from the recruitment of quarterback Cade McNamara.
The Athletic was the first to report the news late Wednesday night.
Kirk Ferentz has a new conference scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Thursday.
It is rare for Kirk Ferentz to hold a new conference to mark the end of preseason camp, especially considering he will also hold his first in-season press conference next Tuesday.
The announcement that Kirk Ferentz would have a press conference on Thursday led to some wild speculation.
Perhaps he was going to name his starting quarterback, or maybe even shock the world by announcing that he would retire after the season.
But that didn’t make sense in either case, and now we know the real reason why the news conference was scheduled.
The 69-year old Ferentz apparently was trying to stay one step ahead of the news, but he failed to do so.
It is uncertain if the suspension is coming from the University of Iowa or the NCAA.
Kirk Ferentz is expected to share details about why he and Budmayr are being suspended for one game.
Cade McNamara entered the transfer portal on Nov. 28, 2022 as a graduate student after having played for three season for Michigan.
McNamara later said in a podcast that he already knew where he was going when he entered the portal.
That certainly raised some eyebrows and led to speculation that Iowa might have committed a recruiting violation.
McNamara started the first five games for Iowa last season before suffering a season-ending knee against Michigan State in the fifth game.
He is now listed as Iowa’s No. 1 quarterback, but is in a hotly contested battle with Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan to keep the job.
Kirk Ferentz was hired to replace Hayden Fry as the Iowa head coach in December 1998. Ferentz currently ranks third in Big Ten history with 196 wins. He trails only Woody Hayes (205) and Amos Alonzo Stagg (199) in career wins.