Iowa Hawkeyes will have to do without HC Kirk Ferentz at the season opener due to a suspension

Iowa’s football team will be without another player for its season opener against Illinois State. This time, however, it is their head coach, who is suspended for one game.

According to 247Sports, head coach Kirk Ferentz and wide receivers coach Jon Bumayr will be suspended for a game against Illinois State on August 31 for violating NCAA rules related to the recruitment of quarterback Cade McNamara.

While the program is currently under investigation, it is unclear whether the suspension was imposed by the NCAA or the university.

The reason for the suspension is because Ferentz and Bumayr presumably spoke with McNamara before he entered the transfer portal. After spending his first three seasons from 2020-2022 at Michigan, McNamara decided to enter the transfer portal on the day it opened on November 28, 2022, and as early as November 29, there was strong mutual interest between McNamara and the Hawkeyes.

Budmayr already had a relationship with McNamara and that relationship contributed to McNamara joining the Hawkeyes.

Ferentz is the longest-tenured head coach in the country and is entering his 25th season after Iowa took over the program in 1999. He’s coming off a solid season that saw him win the Big Ten West and make it to the Big Ten championship. Losing Ferentz to open the season isn’t great, but it’s against Illinois State, an easier team than the Iowa State game.

These are Iowa’s third and fourth suspensions to open the season, as they are already without wide receiver Kaleb Brown and offensive lineman Cade Borud. Both Brown and Borud were arrested last summer on separate OWI charges, and Ferentz imposed one-game suspensions on those charges.

Iowa’s athletic director has declined to comment to the media, but Ferentz is scheduled to speak to the media Thursday afternoon.