Former Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara, who helped the Wolverines to a Big Ten title and College Football Playoff berth in 2021, is transferring to Iowa, he confirmed in a social media post Thursday.
“New beginning,” McNamara wrote on Twitter, along with the hashtag #Hawkeyes.
New beginning #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/qrK2PJY4NX
— Cade McNamara (@Cademac_12) December 2, 2022
McNamara, who has two seasons of eligibility left, entered the transfer portal as a graduate on Monday. He has not played for Michigan since suffering a leg injury in Week 3 that required surgery.
Coach Jim Harbaugh had McNamara and J.J. McCarthy compete for the starting quarterback job in the first two games of the 2022 season before settling on McCarthy, who helped the Wolverines repeat as Big Ten East Division champions.
In 2021, McNamara threw for 2,576 yards and 15 touchdowns and six interceptions in 14 games as Michigan won its first outright Big Ten title since 2004 and made its first CFP appearance. He emerged as the Wolverines’ starter in 2020, passing for 425 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions in a season that was interrupted by COVID-19 restrictions.
The Reno, Nevada, native initially committed to Notre Dame before switching to Michigan.
Iowa loses multiyear starting quarterback Spencer Petras after this season, and backup Alex Padilla entered the transfer portal Tuesday as a graduate student.
Iowa struggled mightily on offense this season, ranking 123rd nationally in scoring and 122nd in passing. The Hawkeyes finished the regular season at 7-5.
McNamara isn’t the first notable quarterback to transfer between the teams. Jake Rudock started multiple seasons at Iowa before transferring to Michigan as a graduate for Harbaugh’s first season in 2015. Rudock became just the second Michigan quarterback to eclipse 3,000 passing yards in a season.