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In a move that nobody saw coming, Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz has been reportedly suspended for the first game of the 2024 college football season.
Ferentz and assistant Jon Budmayr will be suspended one game for a violation related to the recruitment of quarterback Cade McNamara, according to ESPN‘s Adam Rittenberg
The suspension is shocking for multiple reasons.
For one, Ferentz is the nation’s longest-tenured FBS coach. He’ll lead the Hawkeyes for the 25th consecutive season after taking over in 1999.
But more surprising than that is the nature of the violation.
Iowa is far from a recruiting juggernaut. The Hawkeyes have never finished with a top-25 recruiting class according to 247Sports.
So you’d thnk if they were going to violate rules, it would be for a good reason, right?
But McNamara has also been nothing short of a disaster since joining from Michigan. He completed just 51 percent of his passes for 505 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions in five games as the starter in 2023 before getting hurt.
And it doesn’t appear things are much better in year two!
“Yeah! That’s probably a fair assessment, yeah,” Ferentz said after reports of McNamara struggling mightily in a recent scrimmage. “Just, you know, like everything, not consistent. At this point, it’s, you know, um, we’ve just gotta keep working. Every snap is really important for us right now.”
Now, the defense is usually ahead of the offense in practice at this time of the year. That’s nothing new and Iowa is breaking in new offensive coordinator Tim Lester.
But McNamara is supposed to be the guy.
Ferentz even stuck out his neck enough to get suspended for him.
So you’d hope he’d repay the favor with his play on the field. So far, that just hasn’t been the case. But it hasn’t stopped McNamara from talking a big game.