So Long, Farewell: Ryan Boyle to Transfer from Iowa Football

In a bit of Friday afternoon news, the University of Iowa announced that quarterback Ryan Boyle intends on graduating this upcoming May and transferring to another institution to pursue football via the graduate transfer rule.

From the release:

University of Iowa football student-athlete Ryan Boyle will earn his bachelor’s degree in May and transfer from the Hawkeye program. The announcement was made Friday by head football coach Kirk Ferentz.

“Ryan is a hard worker, a good teammate, and a good student,” said Ferentz. ”We wish Ryan academic and athletic success in the future.”

Boyle is a native of West Des Moines, Iowa, and a graduate of Dowling Catholic High School. He played both quarterback and wide receiver during his Iowa career.

The quarterback recruit turned wide receiver (turned back to quarterback) had a rather uneventful career with the Hawkeyes. He redshirted his freshman year, saw playing time against Iowa State as a wide receiver his redshirt freshman year, and then saw no action as a quarterback behind Nate Stanley and Tyler Wiegers in 2017. Even in the limited action he saw in 2016, he did not accumulate any stats as a Hawkeye.

As a three-year starter for Dowling Catholic, Boyle went 31-2 in his career with two state championships. He holds the school career records for pass attempts (484), completions (311), yards (4,566), passing touchdowns (45), rushing attempts (479), rushing yards (3,043), rushing touchdowns (45), total touchdowns (90), and total offense (7,609). All-in-all, it was an incredibly fruitful high school career that was unable to amount to anything at Iowa while the coaching staff attempted to figure out where his best fit was.

As it stands right now after his departure, Iowa is set to have only three quarterbacks on scholarship in 2018 - junior Nate Stanley, redshirt freshman Peyton Mansell, and freshman Spencer Petras. Having so few quarterbacks is probably the future of collegiate football - with new transfer rules likely on the horizon that would allow immediate eligibility after one season, quarterbacks will look to take advantage and find opportunities where they’ll get a chance to shine.

Best of luck to Mr. Boyle wherever he lands next season!