Jon Budmayr embraces role in second season on Iowa football staff

IOWA CITY — As Jon Budmayr considered whether to join Iowa’s staff in 2021, many of the logistical details were not ideal.

The ex-Colorado State offensive coordinator would have to move his family more than 800 miles. His wife Kaitlyn was eight-and-a-half to nine months pregnant with their second child. Their first child was still a toddler.

Oh, and the position he was considering on Iowa’s staff was not even paid.

Thankfully for Budmayr, Kaitlyn is a “saint” and “handled everything out in Fort Collins.”

“All the hard stuff, she took care of so that I was able to come here and start learning and coaching and adding as much value as I can,” Budmayr said. “We stuck together, and it takes a village in this profession.”

Two years later — now with a family of four in Iowa City rather than three in Fort Collins, Colo., and in a role that actually comes with a salary — Budmayr has seemingly found a home with the Hawkeyes as senior special assistant to the head coach.

“Obviously Coach (Kirk) Ferentz is a Hall of Fame football coach,” Budmayr said Friday at Iowa football media day. “But you sit down with him for 10 minutes, and it doesn’t take long to realize he’s a better person than he is coach.”

Budmayr has a background as a former Big Ten quarterback and quarterbacks coach. The NCAA limits the number of on-field assistant coaches per team, so Budmayr can’t quite operate as a second quarterbacks coach.

However, his role as senior special assistant to the head coach involves working “real close” with offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, who officially coaches quarterbacks. Budmayr will provide feedback on “conceptually what I see” as they analyze film, among other tasks.

“You don’t get to have success in the position I’m in without a coordinator like Brian,” Budmayr said. “He puts his ego aside. He’s challenging himself, he’s challenging myself to think differently. … That part, I think, is what ultimately is going to lead to success.”

Budmayr’s official role has evolved in his year-plus stint at Iowa since first arriving as a volunteer.

“We were kind of waiting to see what exactly was going to transpire within the profession and if there were going to be opportunities,” Budmayr said, looking retrospectively at accepting the unpaid role.

He became an offensive analyst by the summer — a paid position — and saw a boost in title after the 2022 season to senior special assistant to the head coach.

“I was fortunate for that opportunity and happy that I was able to create enough value for myself that they wanted to keep me for another year,” Budmayr said. “Very thankful to be here.”

Budmayr’s Iowa tenure follows one season at Colorado State as offensive coordinator. After a 3-9 season, head coach Jay Addazio’s leash ran out, and in came a new coaching staff.

Before his brief stint in the Mountain West Conference, Budmayr spent six years on Paul Chryst’s staff at Wisconsin — one year as graduate assistant, two as quality control assistant and three as quarterbacks coach.

Budmayr’s Wisconsin roots run deep.

He was on Wisconsin’s roster for three years before becoming a student assistant because of injuries. His wife studied nursing less than a mile down the road from Camp Randall at Edgewood College.

That inevitably leads to questions now that Budmayr is working for one of Wisconsin’s Big Ten rivals like, “Is it strange being in the black and gold?”

“But within this profession, that goes away so fast,” Budmayr said.

His connections from Madison have already brought good fortune to the Badgers’ Big Ten neighbor to the southwest.

When Budmayr was at Wisconsin, he tried recruiting a quarterback out of Reno, Nev., by the name of Cade McNamara. Wisconsin was the first Power Five school to offer McNamara, but the four-star recruit ultimately chose Michigan.

End of story, right? Not quite.

Fast-forward to late 2022 — after McNamara’s four seasons at Michigan, which included a 2021 trip to the College Football Playoff as a starter — and McNamara was looking for a new home via the transfer portal.

Meanwhile, Budmayr’s Hawkeyes were looking for help from the portal at quarterback.

"I really do trust Coach Budmayr, and I really trust his word,” McNamara said, looking back at Iowa’s recruitment of him in the portal. “Through the conversations that I had, they were able to sell me on (Iowa).”

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Iowa will be looking for better results out of its quarterbacks in Budmayr’s second year on staff than in his first year.

The Hawkeyes’ quarterbacks combined to complete 55 percent of their passes last year and had seven touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Budmayr is well aware of the need to improve that first number.

“When you have an accurate group, you can spend a lot of time on understanding reads, understanding decisions and playing the game,” Budmayr said. “You’re not trying to fix a lot mechanically.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com