Dave Clawson Dave Clawson ( born August 16 , 1967 , in Youngstown , New York ) is the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons college football team . Before joining Bowling Green , Clawson was the short - lived offensive coordinator for the University of Tennessee Volunteers and was the coach at Fordham University and the University of Richmond where he won two Div I - FCS coach of the year awards . His career record as a head college football coach is 65 wins and 55 losses . Coaching career . Assistant Coaching . Clawson got his start in the coaching business as the quarterback s and running backs coach at the University of Albany in 1989 . He was an assistant at Albany again in 1990 , this time coaching the defensive secondary . He later went on to coach as an assistant at the University at Buffalo , Lehigh University , and Villanova . Fordham University . Clawson got his first head coaching position at Fordham University . His record as a head coach at Fordham was 29 – 29 . University of Richmond . After Fordham , Clawson became the head coach for the University of Richmond Spiders . He served as coach from the 2004 season until the end of the 2007 season , and was the 32nd football coach at the school . His career coaching record at Richmond was 29 – 20 . This ranks him seventh at Richmond in total wins and fifth at Richmond in winning percentage . At Richmond , he was awarded Football Championship Subdivision ( formerly Division I - AA ) Coach of the Year twice . Clawson is credited with re - energizing the Richmond program . After going 3 – 8 in 2004 , the Spiders went 9 – 4 to win the Atlantic 10 Conference and made the playoffs the following year . In 2007 , Richmond won their conference again , going 11 – 3 before eventually losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Appalachian State . University of Tennessee . On January 11 , 2008 , it was announced that Dave Clawson had been hired as the new offensive coordinator for the University of Tennessee Volunteers football team by head coach Phillip Fulmer . He replaced David Cutcliffe , who moved to Duke University as head coach . Clawson ' s stay in Knoxville was short and disappointing . Fulmer was forced to resign as head coach with 3 games left in the 2008 season . Incoming head coach Lane Kiffin relieved Clawson of his duties on December 1 , 2008 . With Clawson as their offensive coordinator , Tennessee suffered its worst statistical offensive season in over 30 years . Bowling Green State University . Clawson was hired on as the head football coach at Bowling Green State University on December 12 , 2008 , just 12 days after being let go by Tennessee . Clawson replaced Gregg Brandon , who after six seasons was let go after a disappointing 6 – 6 season ( including a 1 – 4 home record ) in 2008 , a season in which the Falcons were a preseason favorite to win their division . Clawson ' s era at BGSU started off proving he would be a disciplinarian as he dismissed senior defensive lineman Michael Ream for an undisclosed violation of team rules just months into his tenure . His first game as coach of Bowling Green came on September 3 , with a win at home against Sun Belt opponent Troy . He coached his first bowl in the 2009 Humanitarian Bowl on December 30 in Boise , Idaho . After scoring to make the lead 42 – 35 over the Vandals , the Vandals took over with 00 : 33 seconds left in the game . Idaho then connected on a long pass down inside the 20 and scored on a questionable touchdown call to make it 42 – 41 with 00 : 04 left . The Vandals went for a gutsy two - point conversion and were successful , sealing a 43 – 42 and ruining Clawson ' s first bid at a bowl game . In January 2010 , rumors began to circulate that East Carolina University was interested in Clawson for their vacant head coaching position , following former ECU coach Skip Holtz ' move to South Florida . The rumors intensified following Middle Tennessee State ' s head coach Rick Stockstill turning down the East Carolina job . However , as of January 20 , 2010 , Bowling Green has stated that neither athletic director Greg Christopher or Clawson himself have been contacted by East Carolina officials . On November 7th 2012 , he led the Falcons to an upset victory against division rival Ohio Bobcats 26 – 14 . The special teams had two blocked punts and forced two bad snaps which one of them rolled into Ohio ' s endzone to force a safety . The Falcons took advantage of these turnovers and scored 19 points ( 2 Touchdowns , 1 Field Goal , and 1 Safety ) . With the win , BG moved into 2nd place in the MAC East Division and kept their hopes alive of winning the MAC East and better yet the entire conference . Offensive Philosophy . Clawson describes his coaching style as one that utilizes the available talent to maximize success . His philosophy focuses on getting individual playmakers more touches rather than sticking to a rigidly - defined system . His offenses have displayed components of the Pro - Style , Spread and Power Running attacks . His influences included Hank Small whom he coached under at Lehigh University and numerous NFL teams including the New York Jets , New York Giants and others .