PROFILBARU.COM

Jason Candle
	Candle with Toledo in 2023
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Toledo
Conference	MAC
Record	72–40
Biographical details
Born	November 12, 1979 (age 45); Salem, Ohio, U.S.
Playing career
1998–1999	Geneva
2000–2001	Mount Union
Position(s)	Wide receiver
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2003–2006	Mount Union (WR)
2007–2008	Mount Union (OC)
2009	Toledo (SR/TE)
2010–2011	Toledo (WR)
2012–2013	Toledo (OC/WR)
2014–2015	Toledo (AHC/OC/QB)
2016–present	Toledo
Head coaching record
Overall	72–40
Bowls	2–5
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
	2 MAC (2017, 2022) ; 3 MAC West Division (2017, 2022, 2023)
Awards
	2× MAC Coach of the Year (2017, 2023)

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.^[1] He played wide receiver, first at Geneva College (1998–1999) and then at Mount Union (2000–2001).^[2] Both Mount Union teams he played on won the Division III championship.^[3] Candle graduated from Mount Union in 2003.^[4]

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 to 2006. In 2007, Mount Union promoted him to offensive coordinator, replacing Matt Campbell, who had joined the staff at Bowling Green.^[5]

Toledo

Candle left Mount Union in 2009 to become the slot receivers/tight ends coach at Toledo under Tim Beckman.^[6] 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.^[5]

Toledo named Candle as their head coach on December 2, 2015, after Campbell departed for Iowa State University.^[7] He won his head coaching debut in the Boca Raton Bowl 32–17 over Temple.^[8]

In his first full season as the Rockets' head coach in 2016, Candle went 9–3 in the regular season.^[9] The team made the Camellia Bowl and lost 31–28 to Appalachian State.^[10] In the 2017 season, Candle led the team to a 10–2 regular season mark, which won the MAC West.^[11]^[12] The team won 45–28 over Akron in the MAC Championship.^[13] The Rockets' season ended with a loss to Appalachian State in the Dollar General Bowl.^[14]

In the 2022 season, Candle led the team to a 7–5 regular season mark that qualified for the MAC Championship.^[15] Toledo defeated Ohio 17–7 to win the MAC.^[16] Toledo defeated Liberty in the Boca Raton Bowl 21–19.^[17]

In 2023, Candle led the Rockets to a perfect MAC record and won MAC Coach of the Year.^[18] They were upset by Miami in the MAC Championship game.^[19] The team finished with a 11–3 record.^[20] He joined Frank Lauterbur as the only head coaches in school history with multiple 11-win seasons.^[21]

Head coaching record


Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
Toledo Rockets (Mid-American Conference) (2015–present)
2015	Toledo	1–0	0–0	T–1st	W Boca Raton^[a]
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	11–3	8–0	1st (West)	L Arizona
2024	Toledo	7–5	4–4	T–6th	GameAbove Sports
Toledo:		72–40	47–23
Total:		72–40
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth