By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Kirk Ferentz’s name might show up on a list of college coaches with the most expensive buyouts, the most predictable offenses and the most predictable answers to the media.

But there is one list I feel confident in saying that you’ll never see Ferentz’s name on because he doesn’t just talk about living life with class and integrity like every head coach does, he actually practices what he preaches.

The list to which I’m referring is the one with all the college head coaches and assistant coaches from different sports who have betrayed their profession by allowing themselves to become cheaters, liars and hypocrites

Men’s basketball is currently at the center of the storm as the FBI conducts an investigation that already has exposed widespread fraud and corruption.

Former Louisville coach Rick Pitino has gone from being a living legend to a disgraced punchline as part of the fallout from the investigation, which is ongoing and reportedly close to exposing more crime and corruption at the highest level of men’s collegiate basketball.

It now seems indisputable that Pitino has lived a life of lies and broken promises. Somewhere on Pitino’s rise to greatness, his moral compass broke down and winning became more important than anything else.

Or maybe Pitino has been a slime ball all his life and it was only a matter of time before his sliminess finally caught up with him.

College football also has a seedy past and present.

Men’s basketball might be getting all the attention, but college football has been marred by scandal and corruption for decades and that won’t change because the pressure to win combined with the fact that nobody is perfect can create a toxic brew that sometimes spills over.

It ultimately comes down to a never-ending test of character that some coaches like Pitino fail over and over.

The 62-year old Ferentz, on the other hand, seems about as corrupt as an Easter egg hunt.

I’m convinced after covering Ferentz for nearly 20 years that he consistently does the right thing when nobody is looking, which is the true test of a person’s character.

I feel the same about Iowa men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery. His temper might sometimes get the best of him, but McCaffery seems to appreciate doing business the right way.

It would shock me if McCaffery's name, or the names of any of his assistant coaches, were linked in any way to the FBI’s investigation because McCaffery behaves like a coach who has absolutely nothing to hide. McCaffery welcomed the FBI investigation because he knows the coaches who obey the rules and who obey the law ultimately stand to benefit from it.

McCaffery also deserves praise for his work with cancer awareness and prevention, as does Ferentz for his philanthropic pursuits.

Ferentz and his wife, Mary, donated $1 million to the University of Iowa Stead Children’s Hospital to help researchers working to improve survival rates for premature babies. The donation will fund the Ferentz Program in Neonatal Research. The Ferentzes donated the money in honor of their granddaughter, who was born at just 21 weeks old in 2014.

But as we’ve seen with other head coaches including the late Joe Paterno, just because a person shares his good fortune with those less fortunate doesn’t mean he or she always makes the right decisions when nobody is looking.

As much as we value character, its influence still only goes so far in college athletics.

Ferentz would’ve been long gone by now if he had only averaged five wins per season at Iowa rather than slightly more than seven. His class and integrity probably would’ve bought him more time, but at some point, it comes down to winning, even if you do things the right way.

It’s sad, or in the case of Paterno and Pitino, disgusting, to watch college head coaches fall from grace because they are in a position to impact so many young lives in a positive way.

Iowa struck gold with Ferentz in that he always has been a good person who would go on to become a good head coach.

Louisville thought it had struck gold with Pitino until the truth finally came out showing that Pitino is a much better coach than person.

It hardly is breaking news to say that Kirk Ferentz is a man of high character. It's just worth pointing out at a time when character seems in short supply in college athletics.