UConn football is set to hire Jason Candle as its next head coach, as first reported by WFSB’s Joe Zone.
Candle has been the head coach at Toledo since 2016, winning eight or more games in each of the last four seasons, including an 11-win campaign in 2023. He was an assistant at Toledo from 2009 to 2015 and before that was on staff at Mount Union (Ohio), a Division III power where he also played.
Coaching Background
Candle was the offensive coordinator at Toledo from 2012-2015 under Matt Campbell, the former longtime Iowa State head coach who just accepted the Penn State job. With an 81-44 career record, Candle has the most wins of any coach in Toledo’s history and has never had a losing season.
Under Campbell, the Rockets won two MAC titles and notched upsets over ranked Cincinnati and Arkansas teams.
In Candle’s tenure, they went 9-4 in his first full season and 11-3 in his second. They finished two games over .500 over the next three non-COVID seasons before a return to prominence in 2022, which ended with a 9-5 record after winning the MAC and the Boca Raton Bowl.
In 2023, Toledo was undefeated in conference play, and in 2024, they beat Pittsburgh and Mississippi State on their way to eight wins and another bowl victory.
Success at Toledo
The Rockets have had 11 NFL Draft picks since 2017, including RB Kareem Hunt (3rd round, 2017), WR Dionte Johnson (3rd round, 2019), DT Darius Alexander (3rd round, 2025), and CB Quinyon Mitchell, a 2024 1st round pick. The 2025 Rockets had six First Team All-MAC selections, three each on offense and defense, and eight players on the second or third teams.
They’ve had the three best recruiting classes in MAC history over the last three years and have had some prolific quarterbacks, including Logan Woodside and Dequan Finn. Toledo has consistently been one of the MAC’s best and most explosive offenses under Candle.
In addition to Campbell, the list of former Toledo head coaches includes Gary Pinkel, who left for Missouri in 2000, Tim Beckman, who went on to Illinois, and Nick Saban, who coached the Rockets for one season, leading them to a 9-2 record in 1990 before taking a job with the Cleveland Browns.
Candle has been a hot coaching candidate in previous years, and his name came up for other jobs in this cycle as well, such as Michigan State and Tulane. His deep Ohio roots should help the Huskies' recruiting in that region, which includes the fertile territories of Pennsylvania and Western New York that the program has frequented. His offensive background should be attractive to recruits in high school and the portal alike, allowing for an exciting style of play at Rentschler Field.
