IOWA CITY, Iowa — With a tone ranging from conciliatory to emotional, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz accepted responsibility for an NCAA recruiting violation that will cost him the 2024 season opener against Illinois State . Ferentz has never missed a game. Not even when his father died in 2004 the week the Hawkeyes played Penn State .
He gave the eulogy on Friday and joined the team Saturday. Advertisement “I know some coaches missed during COVID, but this will be a first-time experience,” Ferentz said at a news conference Thursday. “I’ve been away from the team during game week.
That was unusual, but I guess if there’s a lesson learned going back 20-some years ago, our team just did a great job, staff did a great job, players did a great job. So, it’s hard to be away.” Ferentz, 69, will coach the Hawkeyes throughout game week, then step aside about 11 hours before kickoff on Aug.
31. Wide receivers coach Jon Budmayr also will sit out the opener for the same violation. Both admitted to impermissible contact with a recruit in December 2022, and after several months of discussions with the NCAA, Iowa opted to self-impose one-game suspensions for both coaches plus a loss of off-campus recruiting for one week.
What neither Ferentz nor athletic director Beth Goetz could say was the athlete’s name (cough, Cade McNamara , cough). In December 2022, Budmayr was an Iowa analyst and, as the former Wisconsin quarterbacks coach, he previously had recruited McNamara out of high.