University of Richmond Athletics
Dave Clawson Named The Richmond Touchdown Club College Coach of the Year
Dec. 14, 2005
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Richmond head coach Dave Clawson was named the Richmond Touchdown Club's Division I-A/I-AA College Coach of the Year. Clawson, who recently finished his second season at Richmond, directed one of the biggest turnarounds in 2005 I-AA football, going from a 3-8 mark in 2004 to an 9-4 record and a berth in the NCAA I-AA Playoff Quarterfinals in 2005.
The second-year head coach was selected from a trio of finalists which included Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech and Joe Taylor of Hampton.
Under Clawson's direction, the Spiders turned in a season which began by losing their first two and three of their first four, but ending the regular season on a seven-game win streak. No football coach in Richmond's 123-year history has engineered a six-win turnaround in his first two seasons on the job until Clawson did it in 2004-05.
Clawson, a native of Youngstown, N.Y., is a combined 41-41 in his seven-year head coaching career. He is no stranger to program turnarounds, after helping a Fordham squad go from 0-11 in his first season to 10-3 and a 1-1 mark in the I-AA Playoffs in his fourth season with the Rams.
The 2005 Spiders set numerous marks in the Richmond record books including total points, total offense as well as other individual offensive categories. The Spiders scored 349 points, the most ever at Richmond, on what ranked as the highest total offense output ever for the Spiders, 4,957 yards.
Clawson, who was already named the 2005 Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year and a finalist for the 2005 Eddie Robinson Award, will be honored at the Forty-Third Annual All Metro Football Banquet, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2006 at 7 pm at the Sheraton Richmond West. Tickets for the event are $30 and may be purchased by calling 282-3185, ext 335.
The Touchdown Club of Richmond is a fraternal organization which promotes the best interests of the game of football and sports in general with the predominant purpose being to recognize worthy prep athletes and encourage them to continue their education and athletic careers.
This year, for the first time, the club's College Player Awards were presented at the Dudley Award Banquet that was held Thursday, December 8. The players honored at this banquet were also selected by a vote of the club's membership.