Rhode Island head football coach Joe Trainer encourages his team. (Photo courtesy University of Rhode Island)

Going through life you build numerous relationships.
There are a few that are close, but the majority might just be – ‘Hey, how you
doing?’
For Dave Clawson and Joe Trainer, the respective head coaches in the Bowling
Green-Rhode Island football game Saturday, their relationship is close.
The two first met when Clawson was an assistant at Lehigh and Trainer was an
assistant at Colgate in the mid-1990s.
Then as an assistant coach at Villanova, Clawson recommended Trainer for a job on the
coaching staff there and Trainer was hired.
When Clawson was named the head coach at BG, he picked Trainer to be his assistant
head coach and a co-defensive coordinator. Trainer stayed approximately two
months in Bowling Green before getting the head coaching position at Rhode
Island on Feb. 27, 2009.
And Trainer and his wife, Moreen, are the godparents for the Clawsons daughter.
"Joe is one of the best friends I have in the profession," Clawson said on
Monday. "He was one of the very first people I hired when I got the job at
Bowling Green … I have the utmost respect for him as a coach and as a person.

"I was certainly disappointed for us when he left so quickly. But he had an
opportunity to be a head coach at a place where he was an assistant and where he
owned a house," Clawson continued. "I certainly understood why he made
the move.”
Trainer is impressed with Clawson’s knowledge of offensive football.
"I don’t throw the word genius around a lot, but I think over the course of the
last 12 to 15 years what he has done with his offense is as good as anybody in
the country," Trainer said.
Trainer sent Clawson a text message after the Falcons’ game at Florida, but their
friendship is on hold this week.
"I root for Dave every single week with the exception of this week … it’s
another opponent and you really don’t think much about any personal relationship
that you have," Trainer said.
Clawson said that playing a close friend creates an awkward situation during game
week.
"There are a handful of people in the profession, whether it’s a text before the
game wishing them luck, or you talk to them and congratulate them after a win,
or try to pump them up after a loss … and Joe is certainly one of those guys
for me," Clawson said. "But our interaction this week will be very
limited.
"There’s no way that we’re both going to end up happy on Saturday night."

Saturday’s game is BG’s Homecoming and kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. at Perry Stadium.
WAR DADDY: Through the first four games of the season, BG’s Chris Jones has 16
tackles, eight tackles for loss and 4 1/2 sacks.
Of the 16 tackles Jones has been involved with this season, 11 have resulted in no
gain or negative yardage. The total minus yardage is minus-48 yards. The five
positive plays have gained just 14 yards (five, three, three, two, one).
"They have got just an absolute war daddy in Chris Jones," Trainer said.

SCHILZ: Matt Schilz will make his 27th career start at quarterback for the Falcons
against Rhode Island. Schilz was pulled from the Virginia Tech game last week
after throwing a third quarter interception. He was 9-of-25 passing for 87 yards
in the game.
"Matt Schilz is still our starting quarterback," Clawson said on Monday.

OHIO: Ohio University is moving closer to the Associated Press Top 25.
The Bobcats are 29th this week with 40 points in the voting.
TV: The BG-Rhode Island game will be televised on BCSN and streamed on ESPN3. Greg
Franke (play-by-play) and Tom Cole (analyst) will call the action.