Northwestern transfer QB Brendan Sullivan commits to Iowa

Former Northwestern quarterback Brendan Sullivan has committed to Iowa, he announced via Instagram on Wednesday.

Sullivan visited Iowa on Tuesday, according to Hawkeye Report’s Tom Kakert. He joins Cade McNamara and Marco Lainez in the Hawkeyes’ quarterback room.

In 2023, Sullivan threw for 714 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. In two seasons, he has totaled 1,303 passing yards for the Wildcats before entering the NCAA transfer portal earlier this offseason. Interestingly, one of his career starts include a loss against Iowa at Wrigley Field.

Before college, Sullivan was a three-star recruit, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was the No. 743 recruit and No. 56 quarterback in the 2021 recruiting cycle.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.

Kirk Ferentz addresses Iowa’s plans in transfer portal

Coaches use different strategies when it comes to the transfer portal. Some schools choose to go all-in on the portal and make it a big part of their roster makeup, while others choose to only use the portal sparsely, if at all.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz recently shared his plan after Iowa wrapped up spring practice ahead of the 2024 season.

“Yea, I mean, we’ll do anything we can to help our team, you know,” Kirk Ferentz said. “So we’ll be looking at that and studying it and if there’s an opportunity that presents itself, that makes sense, we’ll consider it. We plan to do that every year.”

Iowa has yet to add an impact player from the transfer portal for the 2024 season, but that doesn’t mean the Hawkeyes won’t down the line.

With that said, Ferentz admitted that attacking the portal isn’t as much of a priority this year as it has been in years past.

“We had more openings last year, so we had more need to be involved,” Ferentz said. “It’s not quite the same this year, but we’ll still. If there’s something that can make us a better football team, that’s what we’re all trying to do. So we’ll definitely keep an open mind.”

Kirk Ferentz is entering his 26th season leading the Iowa program. The Hawkeyes are coming off of a 10-4 season in 2023, which included earning a spot in the Big Ten Championship game.

Iowa had one of the best defenses in the country last season and will now look to improve on the offensive side of the ball this offseason.

On3’s Matt Connolly contributed to this report.