Kirk Ferentz 'eager' for Cade McNamara to establish himself as Iowa QB1 amid 'fluid' situation

Iowa enters a new era on the offensive side of the ball, a much-needed move. Kirk Ferentz hired Tim Lester as the next OC after a historically bad 2023 season. But there were other issues on offense for the Hawkeyes, mainly at the quarterback position. Cade McNamara was being counted on as the starter before tearing his ACL.

McNamara is now once again healthy and should be ready to play against Illinois State in the 2024 season opener. Ferentz is “eager” to see McNamara back on the field and hopes he can become the QB can get back to what he was while at Michigan.

“We played against him, right here on this field a couple years ago in December and got to see his entire season on film. So, we have great respect and admiration for him as a player, as a competitor,” Ferentz said Wednesday at Big Ten Media Days.

“Unfortunately, for our fan base and the media, nobody has seen him play full speed thus far in an Iowa uniform. So, I’m eager to see him perform for us this year. Nobody is more eager than he is and hopefully, he’s not too eager.”

Ferentz has been in the game for a long time, taking over as the Iowa head coach in 1999. He was also the offensive line coach in Iowa City for most of the 1980s.

In those days, if a player was diagnosed with a torn ACL, the worst was feared. Ferentz is thankful medicine has caught up and it’s no longer a potential career-ending injury.

“Back in the 80s, ACL injuries could be unpredictable,” Ferentz said. “No surgery is routine anymore but fortunately, 30-something years later, the advances in medicine, players come back from them all the time without issue. We anticipate that for Cade. I know he’s eager to go.”

Outside of McNamara, there are two other guys on the depth chart Iowa released for the preseason. One has yet to take a practice snap with the program — Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan. Redshirt reshman Marco Lainez is listed as well after being a top-50 QB per the On3 Industry Rankings.

Ferentz described the overall quarterback situation as “fluid” heading into training camp. He hopes somebody emerges, potentially McNamara due to his experience, in the coming weeks. But Ferentz expects a competition.

“I would say everything is fluid right now,” Ferentz said. “Hopefully, it won’t be in the fall but right now, everything is fluid. We could have listed Brendan as two but he hasn’t put a helmet on for us yet. When we see him on the field, maybe he will be in competition with the other three guys. But I expect it to be three guys competing.”