By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

New University of Cincinnati football coach Mark Dantonio says he was only trying to be honest when he decided to re-evaluate oral commitments made by high school recruits to UC under former coach Rick Minter.

He said he was surprised his decision has caused such a stir on the Internet and on talk radio.

"I anticipated a little bit of backlash," Dantonio said Friday. "I didn't know it was going to be on talk radio, but they're talking about UC football. That's a good thing."

Dantonio has informed those recruits that their commitments are being re-evaluated by the new coaching staff, and he urged them to consider if they still want to attend UC. He said decisions would be made soon on whether to go ahead and offer scholarships to those players.

The first day a high school football player can sign a binding letter of intent is Feb. 4.

"What I did was simply say we're starting over," Dantonio said. "I have to be honest with myself in terms of how I deal with people. Coaching and playing is about relationships with people. I feel very strongly that those relationships have to be strong.

"I don't want people coming here with the idea that they were recruited to UC by the past staff and have them feel like an outsider."

Dantonio said there are "seven or eight" players whose commitments are being re-evaluated, but NCAA rules prohibit him from naming or discussing the players.

Harrison's Jeff Browning confirmed Friday that he is one of the recruits being re-evaluated, and Kristin Spanogians, mother of Lakota West's Evan Spanogians, said her son is another. The Enquirer previously reported that La Salle's Rodney Pompey also had committed to UC under Minter.

Browning said he understands Dantonio's decision.

"He doesn't know who we are," Browning said. "He should get to know us. They just want to slow things down and get to know us."

Browning said he was told he would be informed this weekend if Dantonio still wanted him to play football at UC, which he said remains his first choice.

"I just love the school," Browning said. "I want to go into law, and they've got an awesome law school. I just love everything going on up there with Varsity Village. It still has everything that brought me there in the first place.

"I think Mark Dantonio is a great guy. That's what I would want from a coach. I don't want a guy to lead me on and say, 'We don't know you, but we're going to give you a scholarship.' That gives me more confidence in him as a coach."

Kristin Spanogians said her family is not upset with Dantonio's decision but would have preferred to know earlier.

"We do understand it," she said. "The timing is a little difficult."

UC athletic director Bob Goin said he supports Dantonio's decision.

"They were diagnosed as a Division I player by one person, and Mark is doing his assessment of whether he agrees," Goin said. "So we get a second doctor's opinion. He has to live with this."

Goin said he would never allow Dantonio to change his mind about a commitment if he were the one who made it in the first place.

He said he had not called the recruits after Minter was fired and assured them their commitments would be honored by the new coach. He said he didn't know if anyone else associated with the UC program had made such a promise.

Dantonio said he sympathizes with the parents and the students.

"The easy thing to do would be to say, 'Come on in,' " Dantonio said. "But that's not being true to myself. I don't believe in doing things that way. If I take them, I want to embrace them as ours. I want them to know that we made the decision to take them so they feel a part of something fresh here.

"I would hate for them to get into a situation where a year from now they say, 'Why did I go to UC? I have nothing in common with that staff.' "

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E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com