Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and an assistant coach will be suspended for the No. 25 Hawkeyes’ opener against Illinois State on Aug. 31 over a violation while recruiting quarterback Cade McNamara.

The Athletic, citing an unidentified source, first reported the suspension of Ferentz and wide receivers coach Jon Budmayr.

In a news conference Thursday afternoon, Ferentz said he made the decision about the self-imposed suspension in conjunction with Athletic Director Beth Goetz, and apologized.

“I frequently tell our players to abide by the rules, and in this instance, I did not,” Ferentz said. “In 26 years as a head coach at Iowa — and more than four decades as a coach — this is my first potential Level II NCAA infraction. I made a mistake and would like to apologize to our players, university leadership, and our Hawkeye football fans. I know coach Budmayr echoes those sentiments.”

Ferentz called the violation “improper contact” with a player before they entered the transfer portal, but didn’t identify the player involved.

Ferentz is beginning his 26th season at Iowa, where his 196 wins rank third all-time among Big Ten coaches. The Hawkeyes have won 10 games three of the past five seasons and reached the Big Ten championship game last year.

“It’s hard to be away. Games are important,” Ferentz said. “I always talk to our guys about ‘you get 12 opportunities guaranteed, period’ and we spend a lot of time working to have those opportunities, so this is a very significant thing. It’s not about me, but every game is significant so it’s going to be strange, it’s going to be uncomfortable, but again I have total confidence in all of the people that I work with every day.”

The suspension for Ferentz and Budmayr will start at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 31 and will last 24 hours, with both coaches resuming normal duties at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 1

Goetz offered full confidence in Ferentz going forward.

“I appreciate the accountability demonstrated and we will continue to fully cooperate with the NCAA through this process,” she said. “I have confidence in coach Ferentz and his leadership, and we look forward to turning our focus to the opening game and exciting season that lies ahead.”

McNamara started 16 of 21 games for Michigan before he transferred to Iowa before the 2023 season. He started the first five games before a knee injury ended his season. McNamara is battling Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan for the starting job this year.

Ferentz told media, “If we were playing tomorrow, Cade would be one, Brendan would be two, Marco (Lainez) would be three.”