Iowa redshirt-freshman quarterback Marco Lainez has entered the transfer portal. He spent the last two seasons in Iowa City as a backup quarterback.
Lainez's lone appearance on the field for the Hawkeyes came in the Hawkeyes' 35-0 loss to Tennessee in the 2023 Citrus Bowl. He took six carries for 51 yards and completed 2-of-7 passes for four yards in that game.
The quarterback in Iowa's 2023 recruiting class, Lainez has been in the mix behind Cade McNamara, Deacon Hill and Brendan Sullivan for the majority of his only two seasons in black and gold.
In 2024, Lainez spent the last four weeks of the regular season hampered with a broken left thumb suffered in practice. With injuries piling up elsewhere in the QB depth chart, Lainez still traveled to Maryland and suited up for Iowa's game against Nebraska with a makeshift cast on his left wrist and hand.
For the Citrus Bowl and during different parts of this season, Lainez was one of two scholarship quarterbacks available on Iowa's roster.
With the departures of McNamara and freshman quarterback turned wide receiver James Resar, Lainez is the third former Hawkeye gunslinger to announce his intentions to enter the portal over the last week.
Between McNamara, Resar and Lainez's decisions, there are no longer any quarterbacks connected to Brian Ferentz's tenure as offensive coordinator left on the roster.
Lainez signed with Iowa as a 6'3", 225-pound three-star QB out of Hun School in Princeton, New Jersey. He chose the Hawkeyes over offers from Illinois, Maryland, Michigan State, Pitt, West Virginia and others.
