Jason Candle’s experience as offensive coordinator prepared him to turn Toledo’s football program into a force to be reckoned with in the MAC
TOLEDO, Ohio (BVM) — Jason Candle has been a part of the University of Toledo football program since 2009, starting as an assistant coach before taking over head coaching duties in 2015.
Before coaching at Toledo, Candle was a wide receiver at Geneva (PA) College (1998-1999) and Mount Union (2000-2001).
He won two national championships as a player at Mount Union and made All-Ohio Athletic Conference first-team in 2001.
After graduating from Mount Union in 2003, he immediately became the school’s receiver coach. He worked alongside Matt Campbell — who was the Purple Raiders’ offensive coordinator at the time — which led to Candle taking over that position in 2007.
The Purple Raiders went 29-1 with Candle as offensive coordinator. They won the national championship in 2008, and were runner-up in 2007.
Mount Union offensive players received nine All-American honors with Candle running the offense. This included quarterback Greg Micheli, who was awarded with the Gagliardi Trophy — given out to the best NCAA Division III player in the nation — in 2008.
While working with Mount Union for six years, the Purple Raiders put together an 83-4 record that included five national championship appearances (three national championships won).
In his first season at Toledo, Candle was a slot receiver and tight end coach. He coached Toledo standout Eric Page, who would go on to catch 306 passes in his career (tied for most career receptions in the MAC), the most ever by a Division I-BCS receiver in three seasons.
He became the receivers coach in 2010 where the Rockets had their first bowl appearance in five years. The following year, the Rockets would win their first bowl game in six years.
Candle was named the Rockets’ offensive coordinator in 2012, and the results were immediate as they were ranked third in the MAC with an average of 445.2 yards per game.
That average would go up to 447.2 yards per game the following season with an effective run game that ranked second in the MAC with 240.6 rushing yards per contest.
In his last year as offensive coordinator in 2015, Toledo had a 10-2 record and placed third in the MAC in total offense (460.9 a game) and points (35.0 PPG).
Toledo standout Kareem Hunt led the MAC in rushing at 108.1 yards per game, which allowed the Rockets to rank first in rushing yards at nearly 208 per game.
Candle made his head coaching debut in this season where he had to game plan for No. 24 Temple in the Marmot Boca Raton Bowl. It would be a smashing start to his head coaching career, as the Rockets beat Temple 32-17.
Candle would put his stamp on the program in 2016 where he led the Rockets to a 9-4 record and a berth to the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl.
This season saw three Rockets drafted into the NFL — Kareem Hunt, Michael Roberts, and Treyvon Hester. Junior quarterback Logan Woodside led the nation with 45 touchdown passes and was a contender for the Heisman Trophy.
Candle would capitalize on the team’s success in 2017 by winning the MAC championship. He led Toledo to a career best 11-3 and went 7-1 in the MAC West Division, also earning MAC Coach of the Year honors.
Senior Logan Woodside would be awarded the Vern Smith Award (League MVP) and was also named MAC Offensive Player of the Year.
The 2018 season would be another successful year for Candle where he led the Rockets to their eighth bowl in nine years. During that season, the Rockets would score at least 50 points a school–record six times. This season saw two Rockets selected in the 2019 NFL Draft, Diontae Johnson and Ka’dar Hollman.
Candle couldn’t lead the Rockets to a bowl game in the 2019 and 2020 seasons but is poised to get the team back on track with spring practice recently concluding. Right now, they are looking forward to being one of the best teams in the MAC during the 2021 season.
