The Iowa Hawkeyes football team faces punishment for violations stemming from the recruitment of quarterback Cade McNamara. On a busy day on campus, the Hawkeyes’ athletic department addressed the scandal that would result in a one-game suspension for the coaching staff.
The Hawkeye announced that Scott Wallace would serve as the interim head coach instead of Kirk Ferentz, who was at the front of the scandal. Ferentz and his staff were found to have tampered ahead of Cade McNamara’s entry into the transfer portal in the late fall of 2022.
Scott Dochterman, an Iowa reporter, posted Iowa’s address of the situation on X, the website formerly known as Twitter.
Statement from Iowa related to Kirk Ferentz’s one-game suspension pic.twitter.com/qeKw8RMOuS
— Scott Dochterman (@ScottDochterman) August 22, 2024
Amid the scandal, Ferentz announced that McNamara would start the year as the team’s quarterback. That move was expected, but it is worth marveling since he injured his knee last year. He’s worked his way back to the starting job, and that should be commended.
But the tampering scandal is clouding him and the program. That said, it’s not like Iowa did anything that anyone else probably isn’t doing anyway. They got their hand caught in the cookie jar, but that doesn’t mean they won’t shy away from the portal to get better. Nor should they. But the scandal is the scandal, and the jokes will likely follow them this year.
