It's great to have aspirations, as long as they don't grow into pretensions. No offense to anyone partial to Bearcat football. But really. If you want to fire Rick Minter after 10 years, because he doesn't win enough, can't keep assistant coaches and doesn't exactly wow 'em from the podium, OK. Minter got a longer ride than most coaches working in quasi-amateur football now.

But to expect the next guy to overcome irresistible mediocrity and immovable fan apathy, well, he better coach like Lombardi, win like Steinbrenner and glow like JFK.

"When I took the job, it wasn't a very good job," a glum, matter-of-fact Minter declared Monday. "This is a hard job. You don't know how difficult it is to recruit here." When someone asked Minter how good a job it is now, he said, "It's just a more desirable job."

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Just because Minter was mad doesn't mean he wasn't right. On the local sports interest meter, UC football ranks no better than sixth, behind the Reds, Bengals, UC and Xavier basketball and the high schools. That hasn't changed in 15 years, at least, no matter how many coaches have been kissed and dismissed, leagues dropped and joined and third-tier bowl invitations accepted.

If the Bearcats want to make a significant dent in the vast "I Don't Care" segment of the local fan base, they need to do one of two things: Hire a big-name, nationally known coach that will cost them lots of money, or find a young hotshot whose personality will sell tickets while he builds the program.

I asked Goin if the Bearcats had the stomach to think big, and pockets deep enough to pay for it. Goin said, "If there's a high-profile coach out there ... I'm not embarrassed to talk to anyone.''

The university, or someone rich, had to buy out the last three years of Minter's contract. That was at least $465,000, given Minter's base salary of $155,000 per. Whether UC, or someone rich, wants to spend twice that much for someone of national stature - or whether anyone like that would be interested - is anyone's guess.

The more likely choice will be a major-college coordinator or a mid-major head coach. Goin says he's looking for "a leader," whatever that means. The guy will need to win, of course. But more importantly, he'll need to spin the charisma meter dizzy.

Minter won, to an extent. His teams beat Syracuse, Wisconsin, Boston College, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. They went to four bowl games. But Minter didn't win nearly enough to overcome his flat personality.

In 10 years, Minter did a fine job of graduating players and keeping them out of the court reports. He was a stand-up guy, classy in defeat, humble in victory. But he never lit the local fire. Ho intersected with Hum at his personality.

If you're going to attract fans to UC football, you need a little song and dance. Minter, bless him, had two left feet. Nobody got excited about UC football. There was no buzz.

Minter's right. It is a hard job. Given Goin's desires, it's practically impossible. UC will never be Ohio State. There's no reason it couldn't be Bowling Green or the Miami RedHawks. Or even Pittsburgh. And the new guy, he better be able to dance a little. And get us to dance with him.

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E-mail pdaugherty@enquirer.com