Iowa must vacate four wins from its 2023 season as part of an NCAA Committee on Infractions decision over tampering violations by head coach Kirk Ferentz and assistant coach Jon Budmayr, the NCAA announced Tuesday.
Two years ago, Iowa and Ferentz publicly acknowledged that the coaches communicated with then-Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara late in the 2022 regular season, before he entered the transfer portal. McNamara, who led the Wolverines to the 2021 College Football Playoff before losing his job to J.J. McCarthy, started the first five games for Iowa in 2023, going 4-1 before tearing his ACL. The Hawkeyes went on to post a 10-4 record before losing to Michigan in the Big Ten championship game.
Tampering violations occurred in Iowa football program; Football head coach and assistant coach previously resolved their respective violations.https://t.co/O7ETKPVWTY
— NCAA News (@NCAA_PR) April 14, 2026
The tampering allegations did not surface until later that season. Ferentz and Budmayr subsequently served a self-imposed one-game suspension in the Hawkeyes’ 2024 season opener against Illinois State. The program also imposed several modest recruiting restrictions, including banning Ferentz from two days of off-campus visits last year.
However, the Committee on Infractions deemed those penalties insufficient, arguing that Iowa should also have to vacate wins from the games in which McNamara participated in 2023 because the tampering violations rendered him ineligible. The school fought back, leading to a protracted case and an eventual hearing on Dec. 18, 2025.
In its report Tuesday, the Committee said Iowa contended that vacating records is “outdated and not responsive to the current landscape of college athletics,” and that “the application of the penalty does not align with recent decisions where the COI declined to prescribe historic penalties.” The committee disagreed.
The decision reduces Ferentz’s career win total from 213 to 209. Iowa’s coach since 1999 remains the sport’s winningest active coach and the Big Ten’s career wins leader, a record he broke last season when he passed Ohio State legend Woody Hayes.
“I am disappointed by the NCAA’s decision,” Ferentz said Tuesday in a statement. “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.”
McNamara returned to Iowa for a second season in 2024 and started eight games before finishing his NCAA career last year at East Tennessee State, where he also made eight starts.
The case that led to that penalty stems from a period in November 2022 when McNamara had not yet entered the transfer portal but had left Michigan and relocated to California to receive treatment for a season-ending knee injury. According to the NCAA report, Budmayr had frequent contact with McNamara and his father and arranged a Nov. 22 call between the quarterback and Ferentz. Budmayr told the Committee that he knew the contact was against the rules.
When asked whether he believed his conversation influenced McNamara’s decision to play at Iowa, Ferentz told the panel, “Hopefully, it helped, all honesty. I mean, that’s why I made the phone call.” Ferentz also acknowledged that he never checked if McNamara was in the portal.
McNamara entered the portal six days later and signed with Iowa on Dec. 19.
Tampering is a Level II NCAA violation. It is not among the most severe infractions, but it has long been a source of frustration for the coaching community. Few coaches have been penalized.
In January, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney accused Ole Miss of tampering with Cal transfer Luke Ferrelli, who had just begun classes at Clemson. The linebacker subsequently transferred to Ole Miss. Swinney, who shared text messages from Rebels head coach Pete Golding and other staffers, submitted the evidence to the NCAA. That case is pending.
