Bowling Green hired former Tennessee offensive coordinator Dave Clawson as its head coach today.

Clawson spent only one season at Tennessee, but newly hired Volunteers' coach Lane Kiffin decided not to keep him on staff.

Much of Clawson's success came in the Football Championship Subdivision, where he was head coach at Richmond and Fordham and twice won coach of the year honors. He led Richmond to the national semifinals in 2007.

"Dave's experience as a head coach impressed all of us. Not just the winning records, but all aspects of how he ran his programs," said Bowling Green athletic director Greg Christopher.

Clawson, 41, replaces Gregg Brandon, who was fired after six seasons in the Mid-American Conference. Brandon was 44-30 and led the Falcons to three bowl games after taking over for Urban Meyer when he went to Utah.

Clawson left Richmond for Tennessee in January, saying he couldn't pass up a chance to coach in the Southeastern Conference.

He said his goal was to eventually get a head coaching job. He achieved that even though Tennessee's offense struggled under him this season, ranking near the bottom of all major college teams in total offense.

The Vols never managed to put together a consistent passing or running attack, and they were slow to adjust to a new offense with multiple formations.

"Everything you go through, you learn from," Clawson said. "The experiences I had at Tennessee are only going to benefit us here at Bowling Green."

During a news conference Friday, Clawson repeatedly talked about making sure his players did the right things in the community and classroom. Bowling Green has lost nine scholarships in recent years because of poor academic performance, and 11 players have been in legal trouble within the last year.

The Falcons were expected to compete for the MAC title this year, but finished a disappointing 6-6.

"This is not a program that needs to be gutted and started from scratch," Clawson said. "We want to win right away."

Clawson will bring nine years of head coaching experience to Bowling Green.

What he lacks is strong ties to northern Ohio, which could hurt initially in recruiting.

Bowling Green passed over at least one candidate who spent time in the area, Missouri defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus who played and coached at nearby Toledo.

Former Bowling Green and Oklahoma State assistant Tim Beckman said he had been contacted about the job just before he took the head coach position at Toledo a week ago.

Clawson was credited with re-energizing the Richmond program. After going 3-8 in 2004, the Spiders went 9-4 and made the playoffs the following year. A year ago, Richmond was beaten in the semifinals by eventual champion Appalachian State.

Before that, he spent five years coaching Fordham and was the offensive coordinator at Lehigh and Villanova.

Clawson is a native of Youngstown, N.Y., and was a defensive back and played basketball for Williams College in Massachusetts before working as an assistant coach at Buffalo and Albany.