tweeterhawk
Well-Known Member
I think college football has passed Kirk Ferentz by. I'm not sure his heart is really in it and the staff changes he made three or four years ago are not serving him well. I continue to question whether Brian was the best one to bring on staff in that vacancy. It's painfully obvious Kirk's staff is not attracting the quality of recruits it was 10 years ago. It will be a huge task for him to start over.
So, I would like to see him resign or retire as coach. I do not want him promoted to Athletic Director; as experience has shown at other schools, promoting the football coach into the AD's office usually is a recipe for disaster.
There's another role I think Kirk could play at Iowa, one he would enjoy and that would play to his strengths: a prominent post as a fundraiser, or at least a prospect liaison, with the University of Iowa Foundation. Give him a title like Senior Vice President or Special Assistant to the President and CEO.
Kirk and Mary Ferentz appear to genuinely love the University of Iowa and the Iowa City area. They have shown tremendous charity with their donations to the UI hospitals and related programs. A role with the foundation would allow Kirk, and his wife, to expand on that work.
Kirk has been a tremendous ambassador for the university. Despite unmet expectations on the field, he appears to continue to enjoy a very positive relationship with major donors. He's already put his money where his mouth his; he could walk into any CEO's office with the appropriate attitude and gravitas and speak with authority about the many good things being done at the university. I think he would be effective in encouraging donors of all levels to join those very positive initiatives.
The compensation would be a fraction of what he has been receiving as coach. (And, please, no suggestions for a commission on money he might raise. That's frowned upon in the world of fundraising and it's really poor practice.) At some point, though, you don't need millions of dollars a year as salary. And the satisfaction of doing charitable work supporting an institution and programs you love can be its own compensation.
So, I would like to see him resign or retire as coach. I do not want him promoted to Athletic Director; as experience has shown at other schools, promoting the football coach into the AD's office usually is a recipe for disaster.
There's another role I think Kirk could play at Iowa, one he would enjoy and that would play to his strengths: a prominent post as a fundraiser, or at least a prospect liaison, with the University of Iowa Foundation. Give him a title like Senior Vice President or Special Assistant to the President and CEO.
Kirk and Mary Ferentz appear to genuinely love the University of Iowa and the Iowa City area. They have shown tremendous charity with their donations to the UI hospitals and related programs. A role with the foundation would allow Kirk, and his wife, to expand on that work.
Kirk has been a tremendous ambassador for the university. Despite unmet expectations on the field, he appears to continue to enjoy a very positive relationship with major donors. He's already put his money where his mouth his; he could walk into any CEO's office with the appropriate attitude and gravitas and speak with authority about the many good things being done at the university. I think he would be effective in encouraging donors of all levels to join those very positive initiatives.
The compensation would be a fraction of what he has been receiving as coach. (And, please, no suggestions for a commission on money he might raise. That's frowned upon in the world of fundraising and it's really poor practice.) At some point, though, you don't need millions of dollars a year as salary. And the satisfaction of doing charitable work supporting an institution and programs you love can be its own compensation.
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