Some guy named Peter Secchia has donated $3 million to endow the defensive coordinator position at Michigan State University. Really? I’ve heard of endowing a professorship, but a football coach position? Last I heard Universities were places of education. Three million dollars would pay tuition at Michigan State for 56 students, for all four years. That would be a worthy gift that would return many years of benefit to society. It would likely ensure that some deserving kids, who would never get a college education otherwise, get a real chance in life. Somehow, I think that Michigan State University will always find a way to have a defensive coordinator, without Mr. Secchia’s gift, which is substantially subsidized by you and me, since it is tax deductible.
But, you may say, the surely the defensive coordinator must put bread on his table also. Rest assured, he does. His current salary is over $900,000 a year, which is quite modest in comparison to the salary of the head coach, who earns almost $4 million a year. In case you’re wondering about professors, who serve the alleged core function of the University, tenured professors make a little more than $100,000 a year and “distinguished” professors earn up to about $225,000.
So, to Mr. Secchia, for using your wealth, however gained, to demonstrate mixed up priorities at our Universities, I hereby bestow upon you the honorary degree of Flaming Idiot. Wear it with pride.