As you have probably heard, President David Skorton is leaving the University of Iowa to take over as the president of Cornell University. Initially, I was a little upset that President Skorton decided to leave, but then I realized that things could have been much, much worse. At least we didn’t lose Coach Ferentz.

Skorton’s departure brings up a good question: Is President Skorton or Coach Ferentz more important to the University of Iowa? From a financial perspective, Coach Ferentz clearly has the upper hand.

As you can see in the graph, Coach Ferentz is the highest paid state employee. In fact, it’s not even close. Ferentz makes over $1.7 million per year compared to Skorton’s $295,000 salary. At his current rate, David Skorton would have to serve nearly six years as president to equal what Kirk Ferentz makes in one year.

It should also be noted that Dan McCarney makes a shade over half of Kirk Ferentz’s annual salary. We think McCarney is overpaid because making half of what Ferentz makes implies that he is half as good of a coach as Ferentz is, and that’s just not true.

Replacing the university president seems like a crisis to many, but losing our head football coach would have much more catastrophic effects. Here’s a shot from outer space that details just how bad it could be:

Yes, that’s right, the world would end if we ever lost Kirk Ferentz. With that in mind, let’s be thankful that we only lost our president.