It’s safe to say Iowa starting quarterback Cade McNamara wouldn’t be a Hawkeye right now without Jon Budmayr.
Budmayr was an Iowa offensive analyst last season after spending 2021 as the offensive coordinator for Colorado State. This year, he was named the Hawkeyes’ senior special assistant to the head coach.
Before Colorado State, Budmayr spent six years with Wisconsin, starting as a graduate assistant and working his way up to quarterbacks coach.
As the Badgers’ QB coach, Budmayr was impressed by McNamara’s accuracy and release, and in May 2017, offered the Reno, Nevada, native his first Power 5 scholarship.
Although McNamara wound up going to Michigan after graduating from Damonte Ranch High School, Budmayr said the pair’s relationship stayed intact.
So when McNamara entered the transfer portal in December 2022, Budmayr had another shot at picking up the 6-foot-1 spearhead of the Wolverines’ 2021 College Football Playoff squad. For McNamara, his familiarity with Budmayr created a smoother transition.
“I knew I could trust him,” McNamara said of Budmayr. “The whole situation and scenario that he was able to present to me at Iowa — after doing a little more research, it seemed like the perfect fit. We already have really good chemistry, and I’m able to talk to him about anything.”
As senior special assistant to the head coach, Budmayr isn’t allowed to coach skill instruction or technique to players, according to his contract agreement signed on Dec. 5.
Budmayr said his main priorities are to “slow the game down” for the offense and put a plan in place that helps them understand the structure of the game and what they’re seeing from the defense.
“At the end of the day, it’s [the players’] job to distribute and get the ball to the playmakers,” Budmayr said. “And it’s our job to get them to do that as efficiently as possible and then let them play to their strengths.”
Because Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz doesn’t specialize in quarterbacks, Budmayr’s focus has mainly been on the QB group since he arrived in Iowa City.
Budmayr helped recruit now Iowa quarterback Deacon Hill to Wisconsin while coaching for the Badgers. Hill cited his relationship with Budmayr as a big reason for transferring to the Hawkeyes.
“I thought this was best for me,” Hill said after Iowa’s spring game on April 22. “I thought it was the best place for me to grow both as a person and as an athlete.”
Budmayr credits Ferentz for creating a space for open and honest discourse surrounding the offense, which has been one of the worst units in college football in recent years.
Iowa posted an 8-5 record in Budmayr’s first season and finished second in the Big Ten West, but the offense only averaged 4.2 yards per play and ranked second to last in the FBS with 251.6 yards per game.
“I walked in here and it could’ve gone one of two ways,” Budmayr said. “You can kind of be the guy who’s sitting in the back of the room and taking it in and or you can provide value and that doesn’t happen unless you have a coordinator like Brian who’s willing to put his ego aside and say, ‘OK, I want the best for Iowa football. I want to improve. I want to find ways to improve.’”
Ferentz and Budmayr are well aware of the pressure they’re under this season to succeed, but they aren’t worried about the outside noise.
Instead, what means most to the pair is providing Hawkeye athletes the right tools to succeed, as well as lessons that will stay with players long after their football careers are over.
“I think if you want to be good at anything, if you want to accomplish anything, and if you want to do anything significant or meaningful,” Ferentz said, “you have to understand that there’s going to be eyes on you.”