How Coach Budmayr brought Cade McNamara to the Hawkeyes

Back in March — in Cade McNamara’s first interview as an Iowa Hawkeye — he alluded to a relationship he forged over six years ago in his hometown of Reno, Nevada. When Wisconsin’s quarterback coach Jon Budmayr saw something in the quarterback of the Damonte Ranch Mustangs.

“What started it off for me is Coach Budmayr,” McNamara said. “He’s a guy I’ve had a relationship with for a really long time.”

Budmayr offered McNamara his first Power 5 scholarship — and his second overall scholarship — in May 2017.

“Went out to Nevada and was able to watch him throw and saw everything that we needed to see,” Budmayr said of the visit. “It made all the sense in the world.”

“Obviously was excited for him out high school, which he decided to go in a different direction and I’ll keep holding that against him,” Budmayr joked.

But McNamara’s decision to commit to the Michigan Wolverines didn’t sever the relationship between the two. Budmayr left Wisconsin in 2021, and took a role as an offensive analyst with the Hawkeyes in 2022. When McNamara was searching for a new home, that relationship paid dividends.

“I knew I could trust him,” McNamara said. “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.”

Budmayr and McNamara both have the same goal: Win now.

“There’s a level of urgency between the two of us and we’re very similar in that aspect,” McNamara said. “I really appreciate our relationship and I know it’s only going to continue to grow.”

“It’s unique in the sense that obviously we recruited Cade out of high school and had built a great relationship with him and his family,” Budmayr said.

Hawkeye fans can thank their senior assistant to the head coach for remaking their quarterback room. Budmayr recruited McNamara — and his backup Deacon Hill. Potentially, that’s why Kirk Ferentz added Budmayr to the staff in the first place.

But in Iowa’s QB room, and perhaps college football in general: It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

“Really, it’s just that connection that you make with families and you don’t know how it’s going to get reconnected that’s more thanks to God than to us,” Budmayr said.

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