Kirk, Mary Ferentz Give $1M to U of I Stead Family Children’s Hospital

Yep...proud to call this guy our coach. Somehow quibbling over his salary seems petty doesn't it. This isn't the first gift they have given the University. Talk about a guy who has his priorities in the right place.

Personally, I've always liked the way his teams play. In his tenure, after the first few years anyway, you would be hard pressed to find a game where we were simply outmatched physically. Teams have had better skill positions, sure, and beat us that way, but in the trenches physically and in mindset, you aren't going to be able to break us down.

You can point a finger at the offensive output sure during the 19 years, but when you play Iowa, the opposing players know on Sunday morning they played Iowa. I like that.
 
He and has wife have been extremely generous in donating their time, talent, and treasure to the University that has, in their own right, been very good to them over the last 18 years.

At the same time, it's also a matter of perspective. Off the top of my head, I can remember a gift of $100k back in the first few years of his tenure, a $500k gift maybe 4 or 5 years ago and then this one for $1M. Those major gifts amount to $1.6M. By my quick calculation, I figure Ferentz has earned about $40M during his 18 years as head coach. $1.6M in major gifts out of $40M in lifetime earnings comes to right at 4%. If you take an average family salary of, say, $75,000/year, over 18 years that would be $1.35M. 4% of that would be $54,000. Spread over 18 years, that would be $3,000/year.

So at the end of the day, while the amount of the gift is a TREMENDOUS help to the hospital, there are plenty of middle class individuals who are giving the same, or more, % of their earnings to charity as well.

So kudos to Kirk and Mary, absolutely. But kudos to all of those as well who donate to charitable causes.
 
Yes, kudos for more than $2.5 million, if I can add, during his time here. Also, greater kudos go to those who have less and give even more to worthy causes.
 
He and has wife have been extremely generous in donating their time, talent, and treasure to the University that has, in their own right, been very good to them over the last 18 years.

At the same time, it's also a matter of perspective. Off the top of my head, I can remember a gift of $100k back in the first few years of his tenure, a $500k gift maybe 4 or 5 years ago and then this one for $1M. Those major gifts amount to $1.6M. By my quick calculation, I figure Ferentz has earned about $40M during his 18 years as head coach. $1.6M in major gifts out of $40M in lifetime earnings comes to right at 4%. If you take an average family salary of, say, $75,000/year, over 18 years that would be $1.35M. 4% of that would be $54,000. Spread over 18 years, that would be $3,000/year.

So at the end of the day, while the amount of the gift is a TREMENDOUS help to the hospital, there are plenty of middle class individuals who are giving the same, or more, % of their earnings to charity as well.

So kudos to Kirk and Mary, absolutely. But kudos to all of those as well who donate to charitable causes.

Good take except maybe they've given to other charities or a church that we're not aware of. They probably have actually.

Plus compared to other coaches' charitable contributions, I imagine Kirk Ferentz looks pretty good.
 
He and has wife have been extremely generous in donating their time, talent, and treasure to the University that has, in their own right, been very good to them over the last 18 years.

At the same time, it's also a matter of perspective. Off the top of my head, I can remember a gift of $100k back in the first few years of his tenure, a $500k gift maybe 4 or 5 years ago and then this one for $1M. Those major gifts amount to $1.6M. By my quick calculation, I figure Ferentz has earned about $40M during his 18 years as head coach. $1.6M in major gifts out of $40M in lifetime earnings comes to right at 4%. If you take an average family salary of, say, $75,000/year, over 18 years that would be $1.35M. 4% of that would be $54,000. Spread over 18 years, that would be $3,000/year.

So at the end of the day, while the amount of the gift is a TREMENDOUS help to the hospital, there are plenty of middle class individuals who are giving the same, or more, % of their earnings to charity as well.

So kudos to Kirk and Mary, absolutely. But kudos to all of those as well who donate to charitable causes.

You don't know what the Ferentz donate to other causes, or if even this is the only donations they have given the hospital. Not only that, but they fund raise for the Childrens Hospital all the time. The womans football academy for instance has raised 1.8 million for the hospital and wouldn't be possible without Mary and Kirk.

http://www.uifoundation.org/iowaladiesfootballacademy/the-academy/about/
 
He and has wife have been extremely generous in donating their time, talent, and treasure to the University that has, in their own right, been very good to them over the last 18 years.

At the same time, it's also a matter of perspective. Off the top of my head, I can remember a gift of $100k back in the first few years of his tenure, a $500k gift maybe 4 or 5 years ago and then this one for $1M. Those major gifts amount to $1.6M. By my quick calculation, I figure Ferentz has earned about $40M during his 18 years as head coach. $1.6M in major gifts out of $40M in lifetime earnings comes to right at 4%. If you take an average family salary of, say, $75,000/year, over 18 years that would be $1.35M. 4% of that would be $54,000. Spread over 18 years, that would be $3,000/year.

So at the end of the day, while the amount of the gift is a TREMENDOUS help to the hospital, there are plenty of middle class individuals who are giving the same, or more, % of their earnings to charity as well.

So kudos to Kirk and Mary, absolutely. But kudos to all of those as well who donate to charitable causes.
So what you are saying is, the guy who gives the big gifts, never gives any small ones. I have a sneaky feeling that KF and Mary are very generous givers of time and money on an annual basis. Publicity only comes when it's of major consequence. This is a democracy, however, and we need people like you to argue the other side of virtue.
 
So what you are saying is, the guy who gives the big gifts, never gives any small ones. I have a sneaky feeling that KF and Mary are very generous givers of time and money on an annual basis. Publicity only comes when it's of major consequence. This is a democracy, however, and we need people like you to argue the other side of virtue.

Yeah, assuming that only very public donations are the only donations that Kirk would give is just silly. The guy is very private, I'd bet that he didn't even want a press release for this, but I'm sure that the Children's hospital want it to be public. A gift like this can spur other gifts, so of course the Children's hospital would want this public.
 
He and has wife have been extremely generous in donating their time, talent, and treasure to the University that has, in their own right, been very good to them over the last 18 years.

At the same time, it's also a matter of perspective. Off the top of my head, I can remember a gift of $100k back in the first few years of his tenure, a $500k gift maybe 4 or 5 years ago and then this one for $1M. Those major gifts amount to $1.6M. By my quick calculation, I figure Ferentz has earned about $40M during his 18 years as head coach. $1.6M in major gifts out of $40M in lifetime earnings comes to right at 4%. If you take an average family salary of, say, $75,000/year, over 18 years that would be $1.35M. 4% of that would be $54,000. Spread over 18 years, that would be $3,000/year.

So at the end of the day, while the amount of the gift is a TREMENDOUS help to the hospital, there are plenty of middle class individuals who are giving the same, or more, % of their earnings to charity as well.

So kudos to Kirk and Mary, absolutely. But kudos to all of those as well who donate to charitable causes.
Did you need some attention? Do you show up at funerals and say "yea he was great but all these other people were probably better?" Come on, show some class.
 
I had no idea about the premature granddaughter. Having been through a couple miscarriages, it just breaks my heart. So 3-4 months later when he says "that's football" and we all blasted him (including me) I think about where his head and his heart might have been at.

He's been a pretty good egg for Iowa. I think I'll try to remember the good stuff next time we dump a game we shouldn't. It's just football, a small part of life. Wish I could keep my priorities in order more often.
 
That's a generous and kind offer on their part.

Now win a national championship and I will take that as a donation to the hearts of millions of hawkeye faithful who have waited patiently and who deserve it. I say it's possible. Not likely, but possible.
 
Caution, sanctimonious rant coming:

Wouldn't it be nice if on discussion boards we could just discuss: making points, acknowledging points, countering points, without having to attack individuals or create motives? What proudhawkfan21 posted above was very mild, but I still get sick of all of the, "somebody needs attention", "you mad, Bra?", "somebody has been triggered", "okay, Snowflake" type of comments that inevitably make their way into discussions. If you disagree with a point, counter it, but no need to attack the individual or their motives.

SpiderRico contributes a lot of good content to this board, and he has never acted the provocateur. He tried to add perspective to the discussion, pointing out that the Ferentzes are great, but so are a lot of other people, which isn't that outlandish of a statement. Heck, Jesus said the same thing at one point. SpiderRico is probably not Jesus, but I can't guarantee that. So just keep in mind the next time you "somebody got triggered" another individual on this board, you might be flaming Jesus.

WWJP (What would Jesus post)

end rant
 
And by the way, I personally love that this guy is coaching the football team I cheer for. I am convinced, not just from this donation, but from a lot of other data as well, that he is a great person. There are probably a lot of other coaches out there who are great people, but it is still nice to have one leading your team.
 
And by the way, I personally love that this guy is coaching the football team I cheer for. I am convinced, not just from this donation, but from a lot of other data as well, that he is a great person. There are probably a lot of other coaches out there who are great people, but it is still nice to have one leading your team.

We could do a lot worse, that's for sure. No recruiting scandal, not caught on a motorcycle with some woman other than his wife, gives his time and money generously. He's not a saint or anything but is still a pretty good guy by all appearances.
 
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