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Phase II - Donor Gallery - Artie McFerrin '65
Important Addition:
Players seek out McFerrins to thank them for indoor facility
By Homer Jacobs
When Texas A&M football players were on the summer glad-handing circuit as part of coach Dennis Franchione’s Coach’s Night tour of the state, they gladly sought out the hands of Artie and Dorothy McFerrin.
After all, because of the McFerrin’s generous gifts toward Aggie athletics, particular his lead gift of $9 million for the indoor practice facility for football, A&M players have been able to concentrate more on X’s and O’s rather than the heat and humidity levels of the Texas summer.
Kirk Elder’s first order of business when he entered the banquet hall in Houston was to find and thank the McFerrins for helping fund the top-flight indoor facility.
“I thanked him and gave him a hug,” Elder said. “I thanked him for everything that he’s done and everyone who has contributed to that facility…I can’t send enough thank-you’s to them. I’m the one guy on the team who has a tendency to overheat, pass out and throw up (because of the heat). It’s a great help for us to prepare. It’s great for recruiting. It’s a great tool to help the program and the kids to succeed.”
The Aggies used the McFerrin indoor facility extensively during fall camp in August, and as a result, the Aggies—to a player—said they had never felt so fresh entering a season. Injuries, it appears, were at a minimum, as well.
Of course, there could be the possibility that a swanky new indoor facility can be used as a crutch for a football team, but A&M veterans said coach Dennis Franchione walked the line carefully in terms of scheduling indoor and outdoor practices so far this season.
“In the wrong hands, it could be (a crutch),” senior Chris Harrington said. “But I think we have a mature group and a coach that understands being fresh vs. being soft. I think as a group, we’ve been through a lot. We had all those close games last year, and I think the grind toughened up us a lot.
“We’ve practiced a lot with Fran, and traditionally he’s been a very tough coach on the practice field. I can remember not that long ago we were outside for 28 periods. Just to see the change and the trust he has in us and how far this program has come so that we can go inside and finish up practice in there and keep practices shorter…I think it’s been a great thing for our team.”
The facility is air-conditioned, and as Harrington says with a laugh, the almost-blinding white, fabric walls of the building keep players’ eyes squarely on the green field turf and their drills at hand. And the McFerrin center can serve as a dual shelter, from both the heat and the intense thunderstorms that hit College Station on a frequent basis.
“The days when we would have storms from 4-6pm and we would have to find a place to work out when there’s lightening involved—we don’t have to do that anymore,” Franchione said. “We have a place we can go to work out. I really think it’s helped us be fresher going into October and November than ever before.” Artie and Dorothy McFerrin have made record gifts to the 12th Man Foundation’s capital campaigns for facilities improvements, with a $4 million donation headed toward the Cox-McFerrin Center for Aggie Basketball.
The McFerrins’ generosity doesn’t go unnoticed by the Aggie players and coaches. “Mr. McFerrin is really what it means to be an Aggie for all of us players,” says quarterback Stephen McGee. “He’s a guy who continues to support us. He always shows up to practice with a smile on his face and tells us how proud he is of us. Knowing that he’s going to stick by us through the good and bad…what a great example for not only our team but for Aggies everywhere about what Texas A&M embodies.”
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