A source within the University of Richmond athletic department told the News Sentinel that Richmond head coach Dave Clawson has told members of his staff that he will leave to become Tennessee’s offensive coordinator.

Clawson, 40, met with Richmond athletic director Jim Miller on Thursday night, and the Spiders moved up a previously scheduled team meeting to 3 p.m. today.

On Thursday night, Richmond sports information director Mike DeGeorge confirmed an Associated Press report that said Clawson had been offered the job. DeGeorge could not confirm whether Clawson had accepted the job.

Tennessee is expected to announce its new offensive coordinator sometime this weekend.

Spiders wide receivers coach Latrell Scott also is expected to join Tennessee’s staff as an assistant coach, the source said.

Tennessee hired former Florida assistant Stan Drayton this week as its running backs coach, leaving Tennessee three other offensive positions to fill.

Clawson, a native of Youngstown, N.Y., interviewed with Tennessee on Monday, two days before two former Michigan assistants — offensive coordinator Mike DeBord and quarterbacks coach Scott Loeffler — interviewed with UT coach Phillip Fulmer for positions on the Vols’ staff.

Clemson offensive coordinator Rob Spence and San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti also interviewed with Fulmer. Cignetti was later named offensive coordinator at Cal.

Clawson is 39-20 in four seasons at Richmond, including an 11-3 mark this season, which ended with a loss to eventual national champion Appalachian State in the semifinals.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Clawson signed a five-year contract extension with Richmond this week that would pay him close to $300,000 and includes incentives to make that higher.

Former UT offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe earned $340,000 in the first year of a three-year contract that escalated to $375,000.

This season, Richmond averaged 234.6 rushing yards per game, the 12th best total in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA).

All told, the Spiders averaged 405.4 yards and 34.9 points per game, which ranked 31st and 16th in FCS, respectively. Richmond’s offense set a school record with a combined 8,817 yards of total offense in 2005-06.

According to Richmond’s media guide, Clawson favors a pro-style offense with a goal each season of producing a 1,000-yard rusher, a 1,000-yard receiver and a 3,000-yard passer.

Before coming to Richmond, Clawson spent five seasons as head coach at Fordham and three seasons as Villanova’s offensive coordinator 1996-98, where he coached with Drayton.

While at Villanova, he coached Brian Westbrook, a standout running back with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, as well as wide receiver Brian Finneran, who has played with the Seattle Seahawks, Eagles and Atlanta Falcons.

Under Clawson, Westbrook became the first player in NCAA history to gain 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in the same season, while Finneran won the Walter Payton Award as the most outstanding player in Division I-AA.

Scott, a Richmond native, coached for two seasons at Fork Union Military Academy after graduating from Hampton in 1999 following an All-American career as a tight end.

He has been at Richmond since 2005, following three years at VMI as wide receivers coach and a year at Western Carolina in 2001.

Under Scott’s guidance, Richmond’s receivers caught a school record 218 passes for 2,391 yards in 2007.

Before the 2007 season, Scott was promoted to Richmond’s assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator, where he primarily recruited Richmond, Tidewater Virginia area and Georgia.

Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.