Chad Leistikow | Des Moines Register

Twenty months ago, Kirk Ferentz stood in front of media members and Iowa athletics director Beth Goetz with a remorseful tone. Iowa’s longtime football coach was accepting a one-game, self-imposed suspension over a recruiting violation involving the late-2022 acquisition of ex-Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara.

“The bottom line is this,” Ferentz said on Aug. 22, 2024. “I tell our players, we abide by the rules. And in this specific case, I did not do that. I made a mistake during the recruiting process. Twenty-six years as a head coach, this is the first potential Level II (NCAA) violation that I’ve had. And it won’t happen again.”

This episode in Iowa football history was revisited on April 14, 2026, as the NCAA handed down the final word over the reported violation, which involved impermissible contact with McNamara: That the one-game suspensions for Ferentz and assistant coach Jon Budmayr were sufficient but that wins would be vacated for the 2023 games in which McNamara participated. (Iowa went 4-1 in those games.)

According to the NCAA, McNamara would have been ineligible for the 2023 season but was reinstated for 2024. Thus, Iowa’s 5-3 record in the eight games he started in 2024 were not vacated.

Ferentz sat out Iowa’s 40-0 win over Illinois State in the 2024 season opener, in which McNamara started. Budmayr also was suspended for that game by the university in the self-imposed penalty.

Seth Wallace was the acting head coach for the Hawkeyes that day, though the win officially went toward Ferentz’s career total.

Iowa argued that the vacation of wins was over the top in its appeal to the Division I Committee on Infractions hearing panel. Prior to the ruling, Ferentz officially owned a 213-128 coaching record in 27 years at Iowa, including a mark of 18-9 during McNamara’s two seasons — though Deacon Hill was the primary Iowa QB in 2023 after McNamara tore his ACL in Week 5. McNamara did not play in any of Iowa’s final five games of 2024, which were started by Brendan Sullivan (three times) and Jackson Stratton (twice) after the quarterback reported concussion symptoms. He wound up transferring to East Tennessee State for a seventh year of college.

It was not immediately clear exactly how Ferentz’s record in Big Ten history would be adjusted. He surpassed Woody Hayes’ 205 wins for No. 1 on the all-time list last season. Assuming he has to subtract four wins and one loss, Ferentz would be back to a 209-127 record at Iowa entering the Hawkeyes’ Sept. 5 season opener against Northern Illinois.

Ferentz never mentioned McNamara specifically in that August 2024 news conference but said there were “unique circumstances” surrounding the incident and left it at that. The appeal verdict shed more light on the timeline.

Though the release did not mention McNamara specifically, it noted that Budmayr “had 13 calls with the student-athlete and/or the student-athlete’s father and sent two text messages to the student-athlete. Budmayr also arranged for the student-athlete and Ferentz to have a phone call on Nov. 23, 2022. On the call, Ferentz assured the student-athlete that Iowa was interested in him, and he would have a home there. All contacts occurred prior to the student-athlete entering the transfer portal.”

The NCAA said that the vacation of records would stand, in addition to one year of probation, a $25,000 fine to the institution and recruiting restrictions.

The NCAA thanked Ferentz and Iowa for how it was handled but stood by the penalties.

“When respected individuals identify their mistakes and take responsibility for them, it sets the standard for appropriate behavior within their programs, universities and, more importantly, across the broader industry,” the panel said in its decision. “The panel appreciates the actions taken by Iowa and Ferentz to publicly address his and his staff member’s conduct.”

Key Details of the Penalty:

• Vacated Wins: The four wins vacated are from the 2023 season when McNamara played while deemed ineligible, specifically against Utah State, Iowa State, Western Michigan, and Michigan State.
• The Violation: Investigations revealed 13 phone calls and text messages between Iowa coaching staff and McNamara, including a call from Ferentz, prior to him leaving Michigan.
• Other Penalties: The program receives one year of probation, a $25,000 fine, and self-imposed recruiting restrictions, including a two-week ban on recruiting communication in 2026.
• Coach Suspensions: Ferentz and Budmayr served one-game suspensions during the 2024 season opener. [1, 2, 3, 4]