Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, assistant Jon Budmayr suspended 1 game for recruiting violation

Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz has been suspended one game to start the 2024 season related to recruiting violations, per Hawkeye Report. Scott Dochterman of The Athletic first reported the story.

Iowa wide receivers coach Jon Budmayr has also been suspended one game.

Hawkeye Report is also reporting that associate head coach Seth Wallace will likely be elevated into the head coach role to open the season. This is Wallace’s first season as the associate head coach after being given the job in addition to his work as the linebackers coach this offseason.

Dochterman also reported that the recruiting violation is related to the recruitment of transfer quarterback Cade McNamara before the Transfer Portal opened in 2022. At that time, Budmayr was a special assistant to the head coach who had previously recruited McNamara.

While the suspension is related to an NCAA investigation into a recruiting issue, it’s not immediately clear whether the suspension is being imposed by Iowa or the NCAA.

Cade McNamara is now entering his second season at Iowa after transferring into the program from Michigan. The 2023 season ended up being a challenging one for him, as he only played in five games before an injury ended his season. In that limited time, he completed 51.1 percent of passes for 505 yards and four touchdowns.

This will be the first time in Ferentz’s tenure with the Iowa program that he won’t be on the sidelines for a game. The last time he wasn’t on the sideline for Iowa was Hayden Fry‘s final game. That came on November 21, 1998 and was a loss to Minnesota.

It’s been an incredibly successful tenure for Ferentz, going back to 1999 when he took over the program. Since then, he’s had a record of 196-119 with the program, going to 21 bowl games and having seven seasons with at least 10 wins.

The first game of the season that Ferentz and Budmayr are suspended for is on August 31st when Iowa hosts Illinois State out of the FCS.

Kirk Ferentz is scheduled to meet with media in Iowa City on Thursday to address the developing situation.

Transfer lineman Kadyn Proctor spoke about his initial decision to transfer

Iowa ended up in a battle to land star offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor out of the Transfer Portal. Briefly, the Hawkeyes did bring him in from Alabama. At the time, he explained that a piece of his decision came down to the relationships he maintained with people at Iowa.

“No bridges were burned,” Proctor said. “So, that’s why it was so easy for me to pick them when I did enter the transfer portal because we still have those relationships. Even after I was doing bad in the SEC and struggling, they hit me up and said ‘We’re proud of you, you’re going to get through this.’ That’s ultimately what helped me with my decision. They still believed in me.”

Since then, Proctor made the decision to leave Iowa and return to Alabama through the portal. Iowa, meanwhile, also self-reported for impermissible contact with Proctor.