American football player and coach (born 1979)
Jason Candle with Toledo Rockets in 2023.
Head coach
Toledo
MAC
62–33
(1979-11-12) November 12, 1979 (age 43)
Salem, Ohio, U.S.
Geneva
Mount Union
Wide receiver
Mount Union (WR)
Mount Union (OC)
Toledo (SR/TE)
Toledo (WR)
Toledo (OC/WR)
Toledo (AHC/OC/QB)
Toledo
62–33
2–4
2 MAC (2017, 2022)
2 MAC West Division (2017, 2022)
MAC Coach of the Year (2017)
Jason Tyler Candle (born November 12, 1979) is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach at the University of Toledo, a position he had held since the 2016 season. Candle had been an assistant at Toledo since 2009, and at Mount Union before that. He played as a wide receiver at Mount Union and Geneva.
Playing career
Candle was born in Salem, Ohio. He played wide receiver, first at Geneva College (1998–1999) and then at Mount Union (2000–2001). Both Mount Union teams he played on won the Division III championship. Candle graduated from Mount Union in 2003.
Coaching career
After graduating, Candle stayed on at Mount Union and joined the coaching staff as the wide receivers coach, a job he held from 2003–2006. In 2007, Mount Union promoted him to offensive coordinator, replacing Matt Campbell, who had joined the staff at Bowling Green.
Toledo
Candle left Mount Union in 2009 to become the slot receivers/tight ends coach at Toledo under Tim Beckman. He was reunited there with Campbell, then serving as run game coordinator. Toledo promoted Candle to wide receivers coach in 2010, where he coached All-American Eric Page. Toledo promoted Campbell to head coach at the end of 2011 after Beckman became head coach at the University of Illinois. Campbell retained Candle and promoted him to offensive coordinator. Candle added the title of associate head coach in 2014.
Toledo named Candle as their head coach on December 2, 2015, after Campbell departed for Iowa State University. He won his head coaching debut in the Boca Raton Bowl 32–17 over Temple.
In his first full season as the Rockets\' head coach in 2016, Candle went 9–3 in the regular season. The team made the Camellia Bowl and lost 31–28 to Appalachian State. In the 2017 season, Candle led the team to a 10–2 regular season mark, which won the MAC West. The team won 45–28 over Akron in the MAC Championship. The Rockets\' season ended with a loss to Appalachian State in the Dollar General Bowl.
On July 22, 2020, Toledo announced that Candle has tested positive for COVID-19 despite being asymptomatic. He became the first publicly known FBS coach to have tested positive for coronavirus.
In the 2022 season, Candle led the team to a 7–5 regular season mark that qualified for the MAC Championship. Toledo defeated Ohio 17–7 to win the MAC. Toledo defeated Liberty in the Boca Raton Bowl 21–19.
Head coaching record
Toledo Rockets (Mid-American Conference) (2015–present)
2015
Toledo
1–0
0–0
T–1st
W Boca Raton
2016
Toledo
9–4
6–2
2nd (West)
L Camellia
2017
Toledo
11–3
7–1
1st (West)
L Dollar General
2018
Toledo
7–6
5–3
T–2nd (West)
L Bahamas
2019
Toledo
6–6
3–5
T–5th (West)
2020
Toledo
4–2
4–2
T–2nd (West)
2021
Toledo
7–6
5–3
3rd (West)
L Bahamas
2022
Toledo
9–5
5–3
T–1st (West)
W Boca Raton
2023
Toledo
8–1
5–0
Toledo:
62–33
40–19
Total:
62–33
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth
^ Promoted to HC for 2015 bowl game
