Now he has pictures, a couple framed 11-by-14s, action shots of UC football players he doesn't recognize.

Atop one cabinet is an Ohio State coffee mug. The whole room is a work in progress, which is an apt metaphor for the 47-year-old Dantonio's task as Bearcats football coach.

We asked him 20-some questions Friday. Say this: If coachly earnestness were a BCS criterion, UC would be playing every year on or around Jan. 1. Dantonio is, as he likes to say, straight up. He is as fancy as a pair of winged tips. He professes great love for his family (wife Becky, daughters Kristen, 11, and Lauren, 9) and a paternal care for his players.

At first glance, what Dantonio isn't, or doesn't appear to be, is especially glib or charismatic. Getting 20 revealing answers from him was like pulling 20 teeth. If he wins, though, nobody will care about that.

University of Cincinnati's new head football coach Mark Dantonio is settling in to his new office. (AP photo)

Q: Captain Kangaroo died today. Were you a Captain Kangaroo kid?

A: Yeah. Black-and-white TV. Mister Green Jeans.

Q: If you hadn't been a football coach ...

A: I'd have been a history teacher. My dad was a high school principal. I majored in English, minored in history. I took 56 semester hours of English. I liked the reading.

Q: Did you have a favorite book?

A: Beowulf.

Q: Do lots of college football coaches read Beowulf?

A: I doubt it.

Q: What do you want every kid you coach to know?

A: It's OK to fail. You find out who you are when you don't succeed.

Q: Best advice you ever got?

A: My father said be consistent and fair.

Q: Best advice you ever gave?

A: Don't quit.

Q: One lesson from a coach you've worked under or played for.

A: Jim Tressel said players don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Q: Who would you want stating your case to St. Peter?

A: Jesus Christ.

Q: What would you have him say?

A: That he believes in me.

Q: Rudy? Or Radio?

A: Rudy. But my brother was an assistant coach for (Radio's) team. Hannah High, in Anderson, South Carolina. I was an assistant at Westside, also in Anderson. I met (Radio) once. But Rudy.

Q: Paul Brown? Or Woody Hayes?

A: Woody Hayes.

Q: Is that the political answer, or the honest one?

A: I know more about Coach Hayes. Under that rough-edge demeanor he had, I knew the care he had for people. There was a lot of soul there.

Q: What's your favorite word?

A: Family.

Q: College football is better than the NFL because. ...

A: We get to develop individuals. Those ages 18-22 are when you become a man.

Q: My daughters have taught me ...

A: That it's OK to be soft.

Q: What should Maurice Clarett do?

A: Get an education. He should sit out the first game next year. (Ohio State plays UC in its opener.) Basically get his act together.

Q: Music that will never be on your CD player.

A: Heavy metal. The old metal was OK, but the real heavy, vulgar stuff, no. I hit all the spectrums now: country, blues, a little light rock.

Q: What's your cardinal rule?

A: Be straight up, confront issues. Don't hide.

Q: One thing you'd change about yourself.

A: I'd laugh more.

Q: If you could be anywhere right now ...

A: With my wife and kids, riding horses. Pretty simple.

Q: Yet you're in a profession that demands you be away from your family a lot of the time.

A: Yeah. I coach to try and impact people. In turn, they can impact people. You can demand excellence in coaching.

Q: Your definition of a perfect football player.

A: A guy who plays with great effort and toughness and knows what to do.

Q: Favorite movie?

A: Rocky. The first one.

Q: Rocky or game tape?

A: Rocky.

Q: Rocky or tape of the 2003 Ohio State national championship game?

A: Tape.

Q: Who would play you in the Mark Dantonio Story?

A: My wife would say Harrison Ford.

Q: You are Rams coach Mike Martz in the playoffs against Carolina. You are driving for what would be a game-winning touchdown. Instead, you run the clock down and settle for a chip-shot field goal that sends the game into overtime. What would Mark Dantonio have done in that situation?

A: I take one shot at the end zone.

Q: Free association. I'll give you a word, you give me one back. BCS.

A: Championship.

Q: Recruiting.

A: Quality players.

Q: The media.

A: Be straight up.

Q: Michael Jackson.

A: Good singer.

Q: Cincinnati chili.

A: Everybody loves it. I like it.

Q: What time do you wake up?

A: 6:15.

Q: That's late by football coaches standards.

A: Yeah. I need to work on it.

Q: What offends you?

A: People who have an agenda and don't think about other people.

Q: New England or Carolina?

A: New England.

---

E-mail pdaugherty@enquirer.com

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