Candidate Dave Clawson Mentioned on footballscoop

Dayons_Den · Post by **Dayons_Den** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 10:33 am

Bowling Green: We hear that former Tennessee offensive coordinator and Richmond head coach Dave Clawson has spoken with Bowling Green.

Wikipedia Bio:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Clawson

Old Richmond Bio:
http://richmondspiders.cstv.com/sports/ ... ave00.html

factman · Post by **factman** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 11:13 am

He seems very well spoken, and at least he doesn't blame everyone but himself for a loss! Here is a post game presser from Tennessee.

http://www.govolsxtra.com/videos/detail ... ne-agains/

Didn't GC say that he wanted someone with a midwest background? I swear I heard him or saw that he said that!

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 11:48 am

A very intriguing candidate. He got a head coaching job at a pretty early age and tasted some success at Fordham. Then took over a crappy gig at Richmond and had some pretty good success there as well, before moving to become Tennessee's OC this past year. From reading that wikipedia blurb I like what I read about his offenses incorporating various parts from different influences. His offenses put up huge numbers at Richmond as well.

This is the first I've heard his name mentioned, but he sounds like he'd be a good candidate to interview.

Zig · Post by **Zig** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 12:54 pm

I honestly don't know enough about football to have a decent opinion, but this guy is probably one of the, if not, best candidates I've seen mentioned on the here in the past few weeks.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 2:22 pm

Zig wrote:I honestly don't know enough about football to have a decent opinion, but this guy is probably one of the, if not, best candidates I've seen mentioned on the here in the past few weeks.

I like what I've read about him a LOT too. I like that he's got HC experience, and I like that he experienced pretty good success there. One of his bios mentions that he got national 1AA coach of the year honors at both Richmond and Fordham.

I'm anxious to get out of work this evening and do a little more research on him when I've got some time. He looks like a very intriguing candidate.

falconfroelich · Post by **falconfroelich** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 4:46 pm

I could be wrong but didnt Tenn have one of the worst Offenses in College Football this year? AND dont tell me they dont have talent bc they've had some pretty good recruiting classes

tiznow · Post by **tiznow** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 4:48 pm

falconfroelich wrote:I could be wrong but didnt Tenn have one of the worst Offenses in College Football this year? AND dont tell me they dont have talent bc they've had some pretty good recruiting classes

He was only there for 1 year as OC.

falconfroelich · Post by **falconfroelich** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 4:51 pm

ok..i was thinking former as he was released when Fulmer got fired.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 4:52 pm

falconfroelich wrote:I could be wrong but didnt Tenn have one of the worst Offenses in College Football this year? AND dont tell me they dont have talent bc they've had some pretty good recruiting classes

Pretty sure they were starting a first time starting QB and it was the entire offense's first season in the system as well.

And as I have stated many times on here success/failure of a coach's unit while he's the coordinator is probably the worst way you can possibly evaluate a potential head coach. Of course it's also about the only way those of us on the outside have to evaluate them.

When you're talking about a guy who has previous head coaching experience I'd be far more concerned about his success as a HC than about how he fared in one season as an OC in the SEC while grooming a new starting QB.

Oh, and if you want a little secret: Tennesse & ND will ALWAYS look good on recruiting rankings. Those rankings are largely based on the fact the kids have offers from schools like Tennessee & ND, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Tennessee has not kept up with its SEC brethren in overall talent.

NWLB · Post by **NWLB** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:17 pm

falconfroelich wrote:I could be wrong but didnt Tenn have one of the worst Offenses in College Football this year? AND dont tell me they dont have talent bc they've had some pretty good recruiting classes

Maybe, but did Notre Dame have the most blistering offense when Urban was coaching WRs there?

And I wouldn't mind having his recruiting black book.

MarkL · Post by **MarkL** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:46 pm

If I remember correctly ... this past weekend, Richmond beat Appalachian State in the Div 1AA semifinal, and beat them quite handily. He's the current HC at Richmond, right? Sound better now?

MarkL · Post by **MarkL** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:51 pm

MarkL wrote:If I remember correctly ... this past weekend, Richmond beat Appalachian State in the Div 1AA semifinal, and beat them quite handily. He's the current HC at Richmond, right? Sound better now?

Whoops, not to quote myself like a tool but I'll correct my error - he coached at Richmond up to 2007 and was OC at Tennessee this year. My mistake, I had those two time eras flipped.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 6:20 pm

Doing some more reading on this guy I think I'd LOVE to have him and I don't care how bad UT's offense was this year. He was the head coach at Fordham and he turned that program around. Reading their message board he seems to be revered as much as Urban is here. They were still following him and rooting for him both at Richmond and then again at UT.

I see somebody (a board poster here?) already posted a question on the Richmond board asking their opinions of him. The consensus there seems to be that he's a darn good coach that didn't have the right fit at UT this year.

I honestly couldn't care less that this guy struggled in his first year as an OC in the SEC. I see his resume and see a guy who did a good job turning around two lower level football programs and proved to have the leadership to be a quality HC. They rave about his motivational abilities, and his recruiting. They all speak highly about what a great guy he is as well...no hard feelings at all that he slowly has moved up the coaching ladder.

From what I'm reading about this guy he would probably be one of my very favorite candidates. He sounds as though he has what it takes to be a quality head coach. My only question would be his recruiting contacts. He doesn't have any experience in Ohio. Not that that's the end all, but it is nice to have Ohio ties to the HS coaches when it comes recruiting time. With the right assistants though, that can be resolved.

I'll be anxious to see how this pans out...this is definitely a high quality candidate that was never mentioned until today.

factman · Post by **factman** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 10:26 pm

Hammb, I agree that he is the best candidate of the name that we have seen, but hopefully there are a few more as good or better in the mix also!

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 11:05 pm

factman wrote:Hammb, I agree that he is the best candidate of the name that we have seen, but hopefully there are a few more as good or better in the mix also!

I'm sure there are. I think I like him as a candidate better than Eberflus or Spack though.