The NCAA announced on Tuesday, April 14, that tampering violations occurred in the Iowa football program when current football head coach Kirk Ferentz and assistant coach Jon Budmayr had impermissible contacts with a student-athlete who was enrolled at another NCAA school at the time and who had not yet entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, according to a decision released by a Division I Committee on Infractions hearing panel. Budmayr also communicated with the student-athlete’s parent before the student-athlete entered the Transfer Portal. Ferentz previously agreed that he also violated head coach responsibility rules due to his awareness of and personal involvement in the violations.
The school, individuals and NCAA enforcement staff agreed on the facts and violations in this case. The parties agreed that throughout November 2022, Budmayr participated in 13 phone calls with the student-athlete and/or his father, as well as sending two text messages. Budmayr also arranged for the student-athlete to speak on the phone with Ferentz, who assured him that he would have a home at Iowa. After those communications, the student-athlete entered the Transfer Portal and a few days later transferred to Iowa. Under current NCAA rules, when a student-athlete transfers to a school that engaged in tampering, the student-athlete becomes ineligible pending reinstatement. The student-athlete competed during the 2023 season before being reinstated.
According to the NCAA news release, Ferentz and Budmayr resolved their respective cases through negotiated resolutions and served suspensions, and Ferentz publicly accepted accountability for the violations. The panel noted that the lapse in judgment in this case did not call into question Ferentz’s integrity or decades of running a compliant football program and appreciated his cooperation and contrition in this case.
The full list of prescribed penalties for this case, as listed by the NCAA include:
- One year of probation.
- A fine of $25,000 (self-imposed by the school).
- A two-week ban on all football recruiting communication during the 2026 calendar year (self-imposed by the school).
- A 24-day reduction in recruiting person days, including two weeks during which Ferentz was prohibited from off-campus recruiting activity in 2025, as well as four days during which Budmayr was prohibited from recruiting during the 2025 spring evaluation period (self-imposed by the school).
- A vacation of all records in which the student-athlete competed while ineligible (vacating wins over Utah State, Iowa State, Western Michigan and Michigan State).
- A one-game suspension for Ferentz and Budmayr during the 2024 football season (self-imposed by the school).
