Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara has grown up with competition.

The oldest of three brothers, McNamara has battled with his siblings in various disciplines, whether it be football games in the basement or two-on-one wiffle ball contests in the backyard of their Reno, Nevada, home.

When McNamara fully committed to playing football in high school, the sport brought on its own set of challenges, but nothing McNamara shied away from, and more importantly, nothing he didn’t learn from during his career. Along his cross-country journey from Reno to Ann Arbor to Iowa City, McNamara has become all too familiar with adversity.

Now, with the Hawkeyes, McNamara takes on what has been a challenge — being the next great quarterback. Yet given his history, McNamara’s confidence won’t let him back down from an uphill battle.

“I’ve always seen myself as an underdog,” McNamara said. “So I felt like I’ve always had to work harder than the next guy … whether it’s a guy in California or a nationally-ranked team … I feel like a lot of my confidence comes from the belief of the work I’ve put in.”

Earning the job, and the recognition 

The signs of potential appeared early on for McNamara. In seventh grade, McNamara met with the then-head football coach of Reno’s Damonte Ranch High School, Shawn Dupris. During the session, Dupris noted that McNamara’s footwork in the pocket needed to be improved.

Two days later, the pair met again, and this time, McNamara was a different player; his step drops were completely fixed. 

“I just can’t get out of my head how impressive that was at such a young age, and to get it with such proficiency as he did,” Dupris told The Daily Iowan. The following year, McNamara traveled with Damonte Ranch to seven-on-seven games. Dupris said even though McNamara didn’t yet have the arm strength to make some throws, the eighth-grader’s confidence and courage were something to behold. Dupris said McNamara showed no fear of asking questions, much less communicating with receivers’ years older than him.

While McNamara did stand out to Dupris before his high school career had begun, he wasn’t handed the starting QB job as a freshman. Sophomore QB Drake Vestbie was coming off an all-conference season in 2014, and the pair split game reps for the first three games of the season.

Not everyone on the team was happy about McNamara getting playing time so early in his career, especially considering their close relationships with Vestbie.

“In small towns, small communities, where guys grew up together, and they all just assumed that … this guy is gonna play this and this guy’s gonna play that … so I get it as far as they didn’t want [Cade] as the starter, because they had their buddy [Vestbie] as the starter,” Dupris said.

Dupris described McNamara as a “pretty quiet guy,” someone who is “internally driven,” and therefore didn’t talk much about the team’s division. According to Dupris, McNamara’s stout determination to earn the respect of his teammates made handling the situation even more difficult.

“I think it was frustrating for him because not everybody was on the same page as him,” Dupris said. “Even though he’s only a freshman, he was, in terms of maturity, right up there with the seniors. So I think it was probably frustrating for him, for them to not give him the opportunity when he knew that he could help.”

In the third game, McNamara led a touchdown drive to cut the Mustangs’ deficit to one heading into halftime. Dupris said he had always expected McNamara to break out on the field at some point, and that
September evening was the “turning point,” affirming to the coach and the whole team that “[Cade’s] the guy.”

Three years and two Gatorade State Player of the Year Awards later, McNamara graduated from Damonte Ranch as a four-star prospect and the No. 1 recruit
in Nevada, holding all of his alma mater’s QB records.

The ups and downs of the QB competition

Even though he received offers from Notre Dame, Alabama, and Georgia, McNamara committed to Michigan in March 2018 after meeting with the coaching staff and touring the campus with then-starting quarterback Shea Patterson. McNamara’s next stop would present adversity, but not at first.

After not seeing any game action in 2019, McNamara completed just four collegiate passes the following season before coming on in relief for starter Joe Milton in a Nov. 11 matchup against Rutgers.

Both teams held 1-3 records, and before an empty SHI Stadium in New Jersey during the COVID-19 pandemic, McNamara put on quite the show. Checking into the contest with less than four minutes to play in the first half, McNamara delivered what Wolverine head coach Jim Harbaugh called “the spark.”

Making what Harbaugh called “throws with no conscience,” McNamara ran off the field at halftime having completed 10-of-11 passes for over 100 yards and a touchdown.

“I was just doing everything I had to help the team win,” McNamara said. “I was like, ‘There’s no chance that we’re like, I’m gonna get in here and we’re gonna lose to Rutgers.’ Whoever we were playing, the competitive nature of myself  [is] saying, ‘I don’t want to lose.’”

McNamara made good on his promise as the Wolverines took home the victory in triple overtime. He finished with a 75 percent completion percentage, the highest in
Michigan’s history among QBs with at least 36 pass attempts.

The next season featured a lot more wins for McNamara, now the full-time starter in the Maize and Blue. The Wolverines finished with a 12-2 record, a Big Ten title victory over Iowa, and an appearance in the College
Football Playoff.

The 2022 season may as well have been deja vu for McNamara. With sophomore J.J. McCarthy emerging as a starting candidate, the pair split reps during the first three games of the season. McNamara said on the QB Room Podcast that Harbaugh told the team of the decision to have two starting quarterbacks the day after the then-junior was named a team captain.

“Some stuff is going on, talk around the team stuff, stuff that I just won’t get into,” McNamara said regarding his final year in Ann Arbor.

That third contest against Connecticut was once again a turning point, but this time pointed in the wrong direction.

McNamara suffered an injury to his right MCL during that game and never played again that season, as McCarthy led the Wolverines to another CFP appearance. Two years removed from leading a heroic comeback, McNamara was stranded on the sidelines.

That injury was a revealing experience for McNamara, who alleges that the MRI scan of his knee revealed a tear in his patellar tendon, which he claimed he suffered in a 2021 contest against Michigan State.

According to the quarterback, the Michigan medical staff told him that he didn’t need surgery on his knee, and should resume practicing. McNamara sought a second opinion from Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles, who advised an operation.

After undergoing surgery on his right knee in November 2022, McNamara announced his transfer to Iowa just one month later.

Making a vocal impression

Unlike at his previous two stops, Iowa City won’t feature any quarterback competition, as Hawkeye head coach Kirk Ferentz said there would be “no debate” that McNamara would be the starter.

During the 25 years of Ferentz’s tenure as Iowa head coach, the Hawkeyes have seen just four quarterbacks—Drew Tate (twice), C.J. Beathard, Ricky Stanzi, and Jake Rudock—who have posted a season tossing 2,400 or more passing yards with a completion percentage north of 60 percent. During the 2021 regular season, McNamara threw 2,470 yards to the tune of a 64.6 completion percentage and 15 passing touchdowns.

Yet for McNamara, it’s not just the statistics that define a quarterback’s success. In his first media availability back in March, the 23-year-old was more cognizant of the intangibles.

“I definitely want to be a primary team leader, because that comes with playing the quarterback position,” McNamara said. “If you’re not a leader in some way as a quarterback, I think you just have to be. That just comes with the job.”

Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz is also aware of such a responsibility and has been “thoroughly impressed” with how McNamara has been able to earn his teammates’ respect.

As for the type of leader he is, McNamara considers himself a vocal one — someone who isn’t afraid to tell the offense what to do but also won’t hesitate to talk smack to the defense, even if that means creating friendly banter with his fellow Hawkeyes.

Hawkeye backup quarterback Deacon Hill jokingly recalled how a long McNamara pass often results in him trash-talking cornerback Cooper DeJean, linebackers Nick Jackson and Kyler Fisher, but especially defensive end and close friend Joe Evans, who assured the talk is “all fun and games”

Fellow Hawkeye quarterback Joey Labas confirmed Hill’s analysis, saying McNamara’s talk on the field is “nothing I could repeat.”

McNamara said he didn’t learn how to trash talk from anyone else but rather “developed that skill” by himself. Dupris remembers McNamara constantly going back and forth with the Mustangs’ defensive backs’ coach,
as well as a seven-on-seven scrimmage occurring shortly after McNamara had committed to Michigan.

Donning a Michigan hat and Michigan shoes, the quarterback received some flak from his California opponents. Dressed like he was already playing in Michigan Stadium, the defenders reminded McNamara he hadn’t even played a snap for the Wolverines, and instead looked like a cocky teenager.

But when the clock hit zero and the score was in Damonte Ranch’s favor, McNamara “let them know.” High schooler or not, the quarterback took the insults head on, letting the comments fuel his play.

“I think [trash talking] is just a part of the game that I enjoy, whether it’s football, baseball, or anything,” McNamara said. “Like, whenever I’m competing, I’m usually talking, so in a way, sometimes it’ll make me play better. And then hopefully, I can get my opponent upset, but for the most part, it makes it more fun for me.”

Another way McNamara creates more excitement for himself is through interpersonal competition, no matter how spontaneous it may be. Dupris recalls a football fundraising event morphing into a one-on-one hoops battle between him and his starting quarterback, each of them sporting flip-flops.

Tight end Erick All played with McNamara at Michigan for three seasons before arriving at Iowa City this fall. Now in the same uniform once again, the pair is quite similar to the McNamara brothers, competing in nearly every aspect of practice.

“Getting to the first stretching position first,” All said, calling McNamara “one of the highest-competing dudes I know.”

“We get onto the little foam rollers, we get into a bunch of different positions, and we’d race to see who gets to which position,” All said.

McNamara said he doesn’t bring up his accomplishments in a comparative manner to his teammates, but maintained that the team has its objectives “laid out in front of us.” One of those goals: “win every single game we play.”

Based on his past experiences, McNamara knows that success doesn’t come easy. Instead, the path to football glory is littered with potholes. McNamara already hit a roadblock in fall camp after he suffered a soft tissue injury to his right knee
on Aug. 12, costing him two weeks of
practice time.

According to Kirk Ferentz, McNamara has the “mental toughness” to progress from the setback and is “wired” to overcome adversity.

Having taken on these roadblocks is one thing, but for McNamara, learning from them is a far greater reward.

“I went through a lot of adversity recently within my last year, but no one can prepare for what’s to come,” McNamara said. “The only thing I can do is to expect it, and when it comes, do everything I can to get through it.”