Cade McNamara: Recovering from injury has been ‘quite the journey’
Iowa QB Cade McNamara meets with media on July 16, 2024.
IOWA CITY — Cade McNamara’s phone went dry. Or at least drier than what it had been.
In slang terms, that means there wasn’t much activity showing up on McNamara’s phone.
Metaphorically, this was the island McNamara resided on. Not that he was totally alone there. But going from being near the epicenter of the Iowa football world to not even being able to play was a drastic change.
“Your phone goes pretty dead when you’re injured,” McNamara said with a laugh Tuesday. “I mean, there ain’t a lot of notifications or stuff going on.”
This situation stemmed from a play during a late September game against Michigan State at Kinnick Stadium. As McNamara scrambled out of the end zone in the first quarter, he went down with what would later be revealed as a torn ACL. That led to a lengthy recovery process.
A small but revealing detail of the taxing road he faced was on his phone. Or the lack of it. But those in his circle helped him through a trying time.
“The people that are in your corner, those are the people that you know you can trust,” McNamara said. “For me, to be honest, that group has grown for me, even in a time of struggle. So I think I have a lot of gratitude towards the people that have helped me get through this process while also just honestly really my relationship with God and just leaning on him. It’s been quite the journey.”
As he stands now, more than nine months removed from the injury against Michigan State, McNamara is fully healthy. He is full-go in all of Iowa’s offseason football and conditioning activities.
It has taken a lot simply to get to this point. He suffered a season-ending injury while at Michigan in 2022. Then after transferring to Iowa, his season was cut short with a major injury in his fifth game. Going through so much in such a short period of time caused internal turmoil.
“To be honest, it’s been psychological,” McNamara said of the most difficult part of the recovery process. “It’s been dealing with — really just kinda battling with myself. Maybe, why is this happening again? Or what led to this injury? But I think really I’ve had a lot of spiritual growth in the last few months and also just kinda it’s given me a new perspective on life in a lot of different areas of it. To be honest, I’m very thankful for what has transpired in the last few months and I think this year is gonna be just a really life-changing year for me.”
With McNamara and other key offensive players out, Iowa spiraled downward on that side of the ball, continuing what had been putrid production spanning across multiple seasons. Iowa managed to pull off an improbable campaign, finishing the regular season 10-2. But McNamara was tied to the sideline for more than half of those games and later watched Iowa get shut out against his former program, Michigan, in the Big Ten Championship Game.
“I was more nervous for games that I wasn’t playing in than when I actually play, which is like a weird sensation,” McNamara said. “But I think just the real thing is, I was just constantly thinking about what can we do positively? What can I do to help the team in a positive way? Even when stuff isn’t going very well. How can I make the situation better? Or how can I help out whoever’s in?”
Even then, McNamara expressed Tuesday that “there was never a time that I questioned if Iowa was the right place for me.”
Change has engulfed Iowa’s offense over the last several months. Offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, son of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, moved on from the program following last season, which led to the hiring of ex-Western Michigan coach Tim Lester to take over that role. With little live-action evidence available to the public, it’s impossible to judge the progress Lester has made.
“Me and coach Lester have done nothing but honestly just hit it off,” McNamara said. “He’s such a good dude. I mean, sometimes I gotta check the clock before I walk into his office because I might walk out three hours later. He’s just a really good dude. We’ve been able to share a lot of offensive philosophy together. I can tell that he really cares about the players and our perspective on the offense and how we think we can make it better, whether it’s changing a route depth or changing a concept or a completely new concept.”
McNamara’s body has changed over the last few months. At one point he got up to around 225 pounds, which was the most he had ever weighed. But since then, he has trimmed down to the mid-200s/210, which is still heavier than the 198-199 he was on gamedays last season.
Another change: McNamara has made some adjustments to his throwing mechanics.
“Becoming a little bit more rotational, using the ground and really using the muscles that I’ve been able to develop through the rehab process to activate those in my throwing motion,” McNamara said.
Part of returning from an injury of this magnitude means clearing the mental hurdles that might exist. It’s important for him to be able to play without hesitation. Over time, McNamara believes he has done that.
“I think at the beginning when I was just starting to get back into throwing, it was tough because as I’m transferring my weight to my front side and then you have to rotate on it, I was just kinda timid to put all my weight and fully transition into it,” McNamara said. “But now that I’ve really just put a lot of reps into it, I know I have the strength and flexibility to do everything now really just because of the way my mechanics are working now. I don’t need to rely on using my front leg as (much) as using my core to rotate. So I’m not timid at all when it comes to throwing or anything like that. I’m well past that.”
Iowa’s quarterback room looks drastically different than it did entering the 2023 season. McNamara and Marco Lainez are the only two holdovers from that group on the current roster. Iowa brought in Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan, who has meaningful starting experience at the Big Ten level.
Unlike last season, that means McNamara will likely have someone right on his tail competing for the starting job.
Externally, a conversation surrounding McNamara is whether he can return to the level he once played at. This is a quarterback who burst onto the scene in 2020 for Michigan and then led the Wolverines to a Big Ten title and College Football Playoff appearance in 2021. McNamara has proven he can be near the top of the college football world.
But the last two seasons have shifted that narrative. McNamara has appeared in only eight games combined over the last two seasons. During that span, his touchdown total is barely higher than his interception tally (+1). Each campaign has ended with major, season-ending injuries.
That begs the pressing question: Can McNamara return to playing at the level he once was?
Internally, McNamara is confident about his answer.
“I don’t doubt that one bit,” McNamara said. “Every time, whether we go out there in 7-on-7 or we do any kind of level of team (workouts), I prove to myself. And I honestly think that I prove to my teammates every single time that I grab the football that I still got it. I know that deep down in me. And that’s not gonna leave.”
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com
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Publish date : 2024-07-16 19:13:17
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