UConn offensive coordinator Rob Ambrose became the fourth head coach in Towson history on Saturday when he accepted the position at his alma mater.

Ambrose, in his seventh season with the Huskies, agreed to a five-year contract with the Tigers. He will depart UConn after Saturday's appearance in the International Bowl (noon, ESPN2).

"Being named as the fourth head coach in Towson football history is a tremendous honor for me," Ambrose said in a statement released by Towson on Saturday. "All three of my predecessors are legends and men that I admire. It's with great humility that I follow in their footsteps. I am so thankful to be part of this program's past and I am grateful to be part of the future. I can't wait to come back home and get started."

A native of Middletown, Md., Ambrose graduated from Towson in 1993 and served as an assistant coach under Gordy Combs for nine seasons. He was named the head coach at Catholic University, a Division III college, in 2001 before joining Randy Edsall's staff as quarterbacks coach at UConn for the 2002 season. He was promoted to the position of offensive coordinator in 2005.

Combs was fired Dec. 2 after his 17th season at Towson. He had a 92-90 overall record at the school, but finished his second consecutive three-win season last month.

"I think that Towson University has made an outstanding choice in selecting Rob Ambrose as its head football coach," Edsall said in the statement. "He is an outstanding leader and an excellent football coach. Rob has all the ingredients to help student-athletes grow and develop. I know he will have a tremendous amount of success at Towson."

While at UConn, Ambrose oversaw the development of quarterback Dan Orlovsky, who led the Huskies to their first-ever bowl game in 2004 and is currently the starting quarterback for the Detroit Lions.

But Ambrose's tenure at UConn will certainly be remembered for his time as the team's offensive coordinator. The Huskies went 5-6 in 2005 after his promotion, a season in which the team struggled through three different quarterbacks, and went 4-8 in 2006. Tyler Lorenzen's arrival in 2007 led to UConn's first winning season in three years, through critics often found frustration in Ambrose's conservative, run-first play-calling.

Still, he earned a reputation as one of the Huskies' best recruiters, having brought in several prospects in the Chesapeake area during his time at UConn. Ambrose recruited Lorenzen out of junior college in 2007, as well as current cornerback Robert McClain and three-star Class of 2008 offensive tackle Jimmy Bennett, among others.

He also recruited two current Class of 2009 verbal commits to UConn: Baltimore (Md.) Loyola quarterback Leon Kinnard and Fulton (Md.) Reservoir defensive end Tim Willman.

The connections to Maryland were instrumental in the selection of Ambrose, one of the program's first candidates. Ambrose officially interviewed at the school Monday, at which point he told Towson athletic director Mike Hermann he had wanted to one day be the Tigers' head coach since leaving the university in 2000.

"We had an outstanding field and discussed this opportunity with many well-respected coaches," Hermann said in the statement. "At the end, it became clear that Rob Ambrose was the best choice to lead our program. Not only is he ready and willing to be the head coach of a college football program, he's ready and willing to do the job at Towson."

Ambrose will officially be introduced at a university press conference on Jan. 6. It is unlikely that the individual chosen to fill Ambrose's position as offensive coordinator will come from the current coaching staff.