The Iowa Hawkeyes are paying a heavy price for recruiting violations in late 2022. The NCAA forced Iowa to vacate four wins from the 2023 season. But that didn’t stop Kirk Ferentz from defending his actions and expressing his own opinion about the violation. The Hawkeyes’ head coach admitted the technical rule-breaking, but he made clear the label of “tampering” is unfair.

“To me, it was more an impermissible contact,” said Ferentz during his Tuesday appearance on the OnIowa Live show. “We violated a rule, and I’ve owned that, but it was hardly tampering. Cade (McNamara) was geographically, emotionally, and in every way departed from the program.

“They were happy about it. He was happy about it. He was competitive for him to find a new home. A lot of people were reaching out to him. So that is what it is. But I made up my mind well before it was going to change my life at all.”

By saying McNamara was “geographically and emotionally departed,” Ferentz emphasized that the former Michigan QB was rehabbing his injury at home in California at the time and was no longer mentally part of the Wolverines. With that, the head coach’s words simply address that there is a distinction between recruiting violations and “tampering” in the transfer portal era.

The Hawkeyes head coach and a member of his staff, Jon Budmayr, had impermissible contact with McNamara in November 2022 before the QB officially entered the transfer portal. But Ferentz argued that McNamara had already effectively moved on from Michigan after losing his starting job and suffering a season-ending injury in 2022.

However, after nearly 2.5 years of investigation, the NCAA found that assistant coach Jon Budmayr had 13 phone calls and sent 2 text messages to McNamara and his father while the QB was still enrolled at Michigan. Budmayr also arranged for McNamara to speak directly with Kirk Ferentz, and the head coach assured a roster spot.

After starting all 14 games, leading Michigan to its first Big Ten Championship since 2003 and its first-ever CFP appearance in 2021, McNamara lost the starting job to J.J. McCarthy in 2022 and suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 3 against UConn. Following that, the QB planned to transfer, but he entered the portal after Ferentz’s call. The head coach has stated that he will not repeat the mistake of calling a player before they enter the portal, and he is optimistic about the future.

“I would do everything over again, other than making the call. I regret doing that,” said Ferentz. “But we took ownership. We cooperated fully. And I mean, you can look at it another way and say we make a mistake by being honest and doing the right thing? So we try to teach our players that, like, we all make mistakes, and we do things we regret, but you know, you own it, and then you try to learn from it and improve from it.”

Despite Ferentz’s arguments that the contact did not constitute true tampering, the NCAA imposed several sanctions.

Kirk Ferentz’s Iowa gets penalties

Iowa must vacate four victories from the 2023 season in which McNamara played. That includes wins over Utah State, Western Michigan, Iowa State, and Michigan State. On top of that, the program received one year of probation and a $25,000 fine.

Kirk Ferentz has consistently described the NCAA’s decision to vacate wins as “overly harsh” and an “overreach,” noting that he had already taken responsibility by serving a self-imposed suspension. He noted that in his 26 years as a head coach, this was his first Level II NCAA infraction.

“I am disappointed by the NCAA’s decision today,” said the Hawkeyes’ head coach. “Throughout the process, our program has been open and honest about my mistake—contacting a potential player in the hours before it was permissible by NCAA rules. I felt it was important to make amends for the issue, which is why I voluntarily served a one-game suspension to start the 2023 season. I believe today’s decision by the NCAA vacating four wins in our 2023 season is overly harsh and inconsistent with the violation.”

With this move, Ferentz’s record dips to 209-128, but the coach has confidence in his team, stating, “Our focus is on the 2026 season, and that is how we are moving forward.”