Iowa Coach Offers Frustrating Response On QB Change

Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz is not exactly endearing himself to the fans with his thoughts on a potential quarterback change.

Iowa’s head football coach Kirk Ferentz runs onto the field after defeating Washington for his 200th career win at Iowa Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. / Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa Hawkeyes suffered a crushing defeat against the Michigan State Spartans last Saturday, putting forth a miserable performance in a 32-20 loss.

While Iowa's defense is suddenly struggling, the primary issue with the Hawkeyes remains on the offensive end. More specifically, Iowa have a problem at quarterback.

Cade McNamara has not lived up to expectations since transferring over from Michigan in December 2022, and he has shown no signs of turning it around.

This has led to many Iowa fans calling for Brendan Sullivan to supplant McNamara under center, but head coach Kirk Ferentz has remained firm in his stance to keep McNamara on the field.

"It's easier to talk about putting somebody in a game than just doing it, especially at [quarterback]," Ferentz said, via Adam Jacobi of The Hawkeye Beacon. "We've seen enough good things out of Cade to feel like he gives us our best chance out there."

While Ferentz is right in saying that it's easy to play armchair coach, his consistent praise of McNamara is a bit puzzling.

In fairness, Ferentz is not going to trash his player. That is completely understandable. And Ferentz did admit that McNamara needs to play better.

But what exactly is Ferentz seeing out of McNamara that makes him believe he should be entrenched as the starter? Or maybe it's what he's not seeing out of Sullivan in practice?

The fact that Ferentz is entirely convinced that McNamara remains the best option either signifies stubbornness on the part of Ferentz or a deeper concern with Iowa's inability to actually land legitimate talent at the quarterback position.

Whatever the case may be, it's a problem for the Hawkeyes, and there is no clear solution in sight.