University of Richmond Athletics
Dave Clawson Steps Down To Accept Tennessee Position
Jan. 11, 2008
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond announced Friday afternoon that head football coach Dave Clawson has resigned in order to accept the position of offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach at the University of Tennessee. UT has announced Clawson will be introduced Saturday at a press conference in Knoxville, Tenn.
A national search for Clawson's replacement will begin immediately.
Official release from UTsports.com
In four seasons with the Spiders, Clawson, 40, has parlayed his ability to rebuild programs into three consecutive winning seasons - just the first time that has occurred at Richmond in 52 years - and compiled a 29-20 record. Richmond won a school-record 11 games in 2007, reached the semifinals of the NCAA Playoffs for the first time in school history and captured the CAA Football title.
Leading fourth-ranked Richmond to a win away from playing for the National Championship, Clawson was named CAA Football Coach of the Year, the AFCA Region I Coach of the Year, the Division I Coach of the Year in Virginia - beating out both Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer and Virginia's Al Groh - and a finalist for both the Eddie Robinson and AFCA National Coach of the Year awards.
Under Clawson's direction, the youthful Spiders were an offensive juggernaut. The team shattered 10 single-season records in 2007, including points (489), scoring average (34.9), touchdowns (63), total offense (5,675) and rushing yards (3,284). Six freshmen or sophomores started regularly on offense, eight more on defense and the Spiders were without the services of three All-Conference selections most of the season due to injury.
Individually, senior tailback Tim Hightower was an All-America selection by four sources and ended his career as Richmond's all-time leading rusher (3,712 yards) and scorer (39 touchdowns). He broke five single-season records in 2007, including rushing yards (1,924) and overall touchdowns (23).
Clawson was the offensive coordinator at both Lehigh and Villanova before taking the reigns of a sagging Fordham program in 1999. He flipped a Rams team that went 0-11 in his first season into a league champion and NCAA Playoff contender.
He's followed the same script at Richmond. Stumbling through a 3-8 campaign out of the gate, Clawson led the Spiders to a 9-4 season in 2005, which resulted in an Atlantic 10 Championship and a decisive win over second-ranked Hampton in the NCAA First Round. The Spiders were 6-5 in 2006 with a shutout win at Duke.
In nine years as a head coach, Clawson's record stands at 58-49. Not counting his first seasons at both Richmond and Fordham, Clawson has won nearly 65 percent (55-30) of his games. An All-Conference quarterback has emerged from Clawson's offense nine times in past 14 seasons.
Clawson, a 1989 graduate of Williams College in Massachusetts, is a three-time finalist for the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Award. In 2002, the Youngstown, N.Y. native was named the American Football Monthly National Coach of the Year and was the I-AA.org National Coach of the Year in 2005. He has been named the conference coach of the year four times in the last seven seasons.