Jason Candle
Jason Candle moved Toledo from Regional Program I to National Program II in 11 seasons.
In his own words
Awaiting signal — no quotes collected from this staff yet this cycle.
Career arc
His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.
Reached National Program in his 1st career season — faster than 41% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #1 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).
Style position and drift
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
11–6 against his rivals.
Coaching career
7th-best UConn tenure of 8 by the numbers.
Followed Jim Mora (2022–2025).
A portal-built roster.
Brings in smaller-than-position-typical players than most.
Recruits younger transfers than most — more of a development bet.
1 NFL Draft pick: Skyler Bell (2026)
3rd-best Toledo tenure of 13 by the numbers.
Outperforms his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.
| Season | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||||||||
| Record | 1–0 | 9–4 | 11–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 4–2 | 7–6 | 9–5 | 11–3 | 8–5 | 0–1 | |
| Postseason | W bowl | L bowl | L bowl | L bowl | — | — | L bowl | W bowl | L bowl | W bowl | L bowl | |
| Recruiting rank | #84 | #88 | #78 | #67 | #73 | #69 | #67 | #91 | #101 | #66 | #73 | |
| Style — pass rate | ||||||||||||
| Pass rate | 45.5 | 45.2 | 43.1 | 42.5 | 39.6 | 47.4 | 45.2 | 43.1 | 41.8 | 51.0 | 45.9 | |
| Coordinators | ||||||||||||
| OC | Jason Candle | Brian Wright | Brian Wright | Brian Wright | Brian Wright | Michael (Mike) Hallett / Robert Weiner | Michael (Mike) Hallett / Robert Weiner | Michael (Mike) Hallett / Robert Weiner | Michael (Mike) Hallett / Robert Weiner | Michael (Mike) Hallett / Robert Weiner | Michael (Mike) Hallett / Robert Weiner | |
| DC | Jon Heacock | Brian George | Brian George | Brian George | Brian George | Vince Kehres / Ross Watson / Craig Kuligowski | Vince Kehres / Ross Watson / Craig Kuligowski | Vince Kehres / Ross Watson / Craig Kuligowski | Vince Kehres / Ross Watson / Craig Kuligowski | Vince Kehres / Ross Watson | Vince Kehres / Ross Watson | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | ||||||||||||
| Offense | 81 | 93 | 87 | 66 | 49 | 69 | 96 | 45 | 86 | 18 | 72 | |
| Defense | 88 | 52 | 44 | 23 | 7 | 74 | 90 | 80 | 76 | 85 | 99 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | ||||||||||||
| 1st-down pass% | 35.0 | 37.5 | 38.9 | 37.5 | 33.0 | 38.0 | 43.4 | 40.4 | 33.3 | 42.5 | 43.8 | |
| Red-zone pass% | 34.2 | 45.0 | 29.2 | 43.0 | 31.7 | 47.1 | 32.9 | 38.7 | 44.0 | 48.1 | 33.0 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | 30.6 | 26.5 | 22.4 | 30.8 | 45.0 | 50.0 | 29.5 | 47.6 | 41.7 | 48.0 | 38.2 | |
Barely touches the portal — recruits and develops his own.
Typical size for position, once adjusted for position mix.
Recruits younger transfers than most — more of a development bet.
13 NFL Draft picks: Kareem Hunt (2017), Michael Roberts (2017), Treyvon Hester (2017), Logan Woodside (2018), Diontae Johnson (2019), Ka'dar Hollman (2019), Tycen Anderson (2022), Samuel Womack (2022) + 5 more
Coach of the Year: MAC Coach of the Year (2023)
2 player-seasons honored (All-America / national award): Quinyon Mitchell (2023), Emmanuel Mcneil-Warren (2025)
AI Narratives — “Toledo's Four-Game Win Streak” and 5 more on the team page.