Iowa will have to vacate four victories from the 2023 season for tampering with quarterback Cade McNamara before he entered the transfer portal, the NCAA announced Tuesday.
The NCAA said that Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and assistant Jon Budmayr participated in 13 phone calls with McNamara and sent two text messages prior to him entering the portal in November 2022. McNamara left Michigan a few days later and transferred to Iowa.
Both Ferentz and Budmayr were suspended for the 2024 season opener in a school-imposed penalty for the violations.
In a joint statement, Iowa president Barb Wilson and athletic director Beth Goetz said they are disappointed in the ruling.
“We are very disappointed in today’s ruling by the Committee on Infractions,” the statement said. “Throughout this nearly two-and-a-half-year process, the University has fully cooperated with the NCAA enforcement staff. More importantly, when the facts revealed that violations had taken place, the institution and the head coach publicly accepted full responsibility and self-imposed several significant sanctions, something few others have done. We believe the decision of adding the penalty of the forfeiture of wins is unwarranted. The matter is now closed, and we have moved forward.”
Ferentz expressed similar sentiments in an additional statement.
“I am disappointed by the NCAA’s decision today,” Ferentz said. “Throughout the process, our program has been open and honest about my mistake — contacting a potential player in the hours before it was permissible by NCAA rules.
“I felt it was important to make amends for the issue, which is why I voluntarily served a one-game suspension to start the 2023 season. I believe today’s decision by the NCAA vacating four wins in our 2023 season is overly harsh and inconsistent with the violation.
“As I tell our team and staff, it is how you respond and move forward that defines you. Our focus is on the 2026 season and that is how we are moving forward.”
McNamara went 4-1 with the Hawkeyes in 2023 before suffering a knee injury. The NCAA ruled that McNamara was ineligible for those wins over Utah State, Iowa State, Western Michigan and Michigan State, which will now be vacated.
McNamara played for the Hawkeyes for one more year before transferring again to East Tennessee State for the 2025 season.