University of Toledo football coach Jason Candle will remain with the Rockets.
After being offered Miami’s offensive coordinator position, Candle declined the position and will return to Toledo for his seventh year at the helm. He coached one game in the 2015 season, the Rockets’ upset win against nationally ranked Temple in the Boca Raton Bowl.
Candle has worked with the Rockets for the past 13 seasons, six as head coach.
Here is a look at Candle’s stats in his tenure as head coach.
45: Candle’s 45 wins as coach of the Rockets is fifth in program history. He sits ahead of current Iowa State coach Matt Campbell by 10 wins (Campbell was 35-15 when he departed for the same position with Iowa State following the 2015 season). Candle is three wins shy of moving into a tie for fourth place with the late Frank Lauterbur, who left the Rockets for the University of Iowa.
.625: Candle has a .625 winning percentage during his tenure with Toledo, which puts him fourth all-time amongst UT coaches. Nick Saban (one year, .818) has the best winning percentage in program history, followed by Campbell (.700) and Gary Pinkel (73-37), who left for the University of Missouri.
1-4: Candle’s five bowl game appearances is most in Toledo football history, but the Rockets only won one. He led UT to another three straight bowl games before a two-year hiatus. The Rockets snapped their two-year bowl-less streak this season and played Middle Tennessee State in the 2021 Bahamas Bowl.
5-1: The Rockets are 5-1 against I-75 rival Bowling Green State University under Candle. Toledo’s loss to the Falcons was in 2019 at Doyt Perry Stadium. Candle’s Rockets have outscored the Falcons 254-148 in the six games.
5: In five of Candle’s six years of recruiting, the Rockets have had the No. 1 recruiting class in the MAC five times — the past five years. Final rankings for 2022’s recruiting class will be settled after the Feb. 2 signing day.
35-36: Candle’s teams are a combined 35-36 against the spread. Despite the below-.500 record, the Rockets were 7-5 against the spread this season. In bowl games, Toledo is 1-3 against the spread. The Rockets were the favorites in their 2021 Bahamas Bowl matchup with Middle Tennessee State, but lost 31-24.
7.96: Toledo has averaged 7.96 penalties per game under Candle. The Rockets have finished better than 100th in the nation for average penalties per game twice in Candle’s tenure (in 2016 and 2019 Toledo was 96th and 50th, respectively). Outside of those two seasons, the Rockets have finished last in the country twice (2021 and 2020), 117th (2018), and 123rd (2017).
33.9: The Rockets have averaged 33.9 points per game with Candle leading the team, with Toledo’s scoring offense ranked outside the nation’s top 30 once in Candle’s tenure. The Rockets’ lowest points per game average was in 2019, when Toledo averaged 25.6 points per game. That season, UT was ranked 82nd in the country, the Rockets’ lowest scoring offense and rank under Candle. Toledo’s highest national rank was in 2018, when it averaged 38.3 points per game (12th in the country).
0-3: UT is 0-3 versus ranked opponents in six full seasons under Candle. Toledo lost to Miami twice, when the Hurricanes were ranked No. 14 (2017) and No. 20 (2018). The Rockets were just shy of an upset against No. 7 Notre Dame this past season.
6: Candle has seen six of his former players continue their football careers in the NFL via the draft. Diontae Johnson (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Kareem Hunt (Kansas City Chiefs) were drafted in the third round of their respective draft years. Johnson and Hunt are the highest drafted players in Candle’s tenure. The four other players were Michael Roberts (Detroit Lions, 2017 fourth round), Treyvon Hester (Las Vegas Raiders, 2017 seventh round), Logan Woodside (Cincinnati Bengals, 2018 seventh round), and Ka'dar Hollman (Green Bay Packers, 2019 sixth round).
First Published January 24, 2022, 9:41 p.m.
