The transfer portal has changed college sports. I'll leave it up to you to decide if it is for the betterment of collegiate sports. But give the Iowa Hawkeye football team and Kirk Ferentz credit for this. They swung for the fences when they went after quarterback Cade McNamara in the portal in 2022. Unfortunately for McNamara and Iowa, just because you swing for the fences, doesn't mean you'll hit a home run.
For those that don't remember, McNamara began his career at Michigan and was the starter for the Wolverine team that won the Big Ten Title in 2021 and made the College Football Playoff according to ESPN. But the Wolverines moved on to quarterback J.J. McCarthy and McNamara was looking for a new home. The Hawkeyes were desperate to upgrade the quarterback position and did what was necessary to land McNamara in Iowa City.
How bad did Iowa want McNamara? Bad enough that they reportedly violated NCAA rules. If you remember Kirk Ferentz and an assistant coach were suspended for the first game of this season for violations in the recruitment of McNamara to Iowa. Sports Illustrated reports that Iowa coaches contacted the quarterback prior to the transfer portal opening.
McNamara started off slow but showed signs of being the best Iowa QB in years. But then in his fifth game as the Iowa starter, he suffered a season-ending ACL injury in 2023 according to ESPN. He returned this season and would go on to start 8 games for the Hawkeyes. He missed Iowa's final four games of the year after suffering a concussion. He was replaced as the starter by Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan.
ESPN reports that McNamara will enter the transfer portal once again and look to play his seventh and final year of college football somewhere else. He would need the NCAA to grant him a waiver of eligibility to do so. While many Iowa fans won't be sad to see him go, we need to realize that no one is more saddened by how things turned out at Iowa than Cade McNamara. I'm sure he dreamt of leading Iowa to a Big Ten title and winning a game against his old team, Michigan, in the process. Now he will look for one final chance to end his college career on his terms. I hope he finds it.
The Hawkeyes are once again being linked to several high-profile quarterbacks who are entering the transfer portal during the off-season. Iowa will no doubt take another swing at one. But Cade McNamara should be a lesson to Iowa fans. Getting the player in Iowa City is just the beginning.