Jason Candle
Jason Candle went 84–47 as a head coach, 2015–2026, at Toledo and UConn. Share
- Record
- 84–47 career
- Seasons
- 12
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Nov 12, 1979
- Alma mater
- Mount Union 2003
- Best season
- 2015 10–2
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Toledo interim, bowl game | 1–0 | T–1st | Boca Raton Bowl W | ||
| 2016 | Toledo | 9–4 | 2nd (West) | Camellia Bowl L | ||
| 2017 | Toledo | 11–3 | 1st (West) | Dollar General Bowl L | ||
| 2018 | Toledo | 7–6 | T–2nd (West) | Bahamas Bowl L | ||
| 2019 | Toledo | 6–6 | T–5th (West) | |||
| 2020 | Toledo | 4–2 | T–2nd (West) | |||
| 2021 | Toledo | 7–6 | 3rd (West) | Bahamas Bowl L | ||
| 2022 | Toledo | 9–5 | T–1st (West) | Boca Raton Bowl W | ||
| 2023 | Toledo | 11–3 | 1st (West) | Arizona Bowl L | ||
| 2024 | Toledo | 8–5 | T–6th | GameAbove Sports Bowl W | ||
| 2025 | Toledo | 8–4 | T–2nd | Boca Raton (not coached) | ||
| 2026 | UConn | 3–3 |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 6 | 1–5 | 17% |
| Against top-10 teams | 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 20 | 11–9 | 55% |
| Conference games | 78 | 53–25 | 68% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 8 | 3–5 | 38% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 47 | 21–26 | 45% |
| At home | 61 | 48–13 | 79% |
| On the road | 58 | 30–28 | 52% |
| At neutral sites | 12 | 6–6 | 50% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 106 | 76–30 | 72% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 25 | 8–17 | 32% |
His own 131 games on file, 2015–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Creighton 2016–2024 | 7–2 | Eastern Michigan | 9 | |
| Mike Neu 2016–2023 | 6–2 | Ball State | 8 | |
| Thomas Hammock 2019–2025 | 5–2 | Northern Illinois | 7 | |
| Tim Lester 2017–2022 | 4–2 | Western Michigan | 6 | |
| Jim McElwain 2019–2024 | 4–2 | Central Michigan | 6 | |
| Scot Loeffler 2019–2024 | 3–3 | Bowling Green | 6 | |
| Chuck Martin 2023–2026 | 3–2 | Miami (OH) | 5 | |
| John Bonamego 2016–2018 | 3–0 | Central Michigan | 3 | |
| Mike Jinks 2016–2018 | 3–0 | Bowling Green | 3 | |
| Terry Bowden 2016–2017 | 3–0 | Akron | 3 |
Jason Candle’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Central Michiganseries | 10 | 8–2 |
| Northern Illinoisseries | 10 | 7–3 |
| Bowling Greenseries | 10 | 6–4 |
| Ball Stateseries | 9 | 7–2 |
| Eastern Michiganseries | 9 | 7–2 |
| Western Michiganseries | 9 | 5–4 |
| Akronseries | 6 | 5–1 |
| Miami (OH)series | 5 | 3–2 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–06 | Mount Union | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2007–08 | Mount Union | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2009 | Toledo | SR and tight ends coach | |
| 2010–11 | Toledo | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2012–13 | Toledo | Offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| 2014–15 | Toledo | Assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2015 | Toledo | Head coach | |
| 2016–25 | Toledo | Head coach | |
| 2026–present | UConn | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included. Head-coaching seasons the infobox leaves out come from our records.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Tim BeckmanToledo
- Matt CampbellToledo
Assistants who became head coaches
- Jon HeacockYoungstown State
- Tyson VeidtBluffton
- Brian WrightFlorida Atlantic, Pittsburg State, Northern Arizona
- Michael (Mike) HallettThomas More, Heidelberg
- Robert WeinerToledo
- Vince KehresMount Union
- Nunzio CampanileRutgers, Syracuse
Worked under (2)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Beckman | Toledo | 2009–11 | 2009: SR and tight ends coach; 2010–11: wide receivers coach | |
| Matt Campbell | Toledo | 2011–15 | 2011: wide receivers coach; 2012–13: offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach; 2014–15: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (7)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jon Heacock | Toledo, 2015: assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and safeties coach | Youngstown State | |
| Tyson Veidt | Toledo, 2015: linebackers coach | Bluffton | |
| Brian Wright | Toledo, 2016–19: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Florida Atlantic, Pittsburg State, Northern Arizona | |
| Michael (Mike) Hallett | Toledo, 2016–19: offensive line coach; 2020–25: co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | Thomas More, Heidelberg | |
| Robert Weiner | Toledo, 2020–25: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; UConn, 2026: assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach | Toledo | |
| Vince Kehres | Toledo, 2020–25: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Mount Union | |
| Nunzio Campanile | UConn, 2026: offensive coordinator | Rutgers, Syracuse |
Other assistants under him (10)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| D. K. McDonald | Toledo, 2015: cornerbacks coach | |
| Derek Sage | Toledo, 2015–16: wide receivers coach; 2024–25: tight ends coach | |
| Taylor Mouser | Toledo, 2015: graduate assistant | |
| Tom Manning | Toledo, 2015: offensive line coach | |
| Brian George | Toledo, 2016–19: defensive coordinator | |
| Marquel Blackwell | Toledo, 2016–17: running backs coach; UConn, 2026: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Craig Kuligowski | Toledo, 2020–23: co-defensive coordinator | |
| Ross Watson | Toledo, 2020–25: co-defensive coordinator | |
| Perry Eliano | Toledo, 2024–25: cornerbacks coach | |
| Ryan Manalac | UConn, 2026: defensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | State payroll | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | UConn | head coach | $1,861,319 | ||
| 2017 | Toledo | head coachbonuses up to $615,000; $57,500 in bonuses paid; buyout $1,985,417 | $700,950 USA Today | ||
| 2016 | Toledo | head coachbonuses up to $602,500 | $675,000 USA Today | ||
| 2015 | Toledo | offensive coordinatorbonuses up to $1,500 | $136,212 USA Today | ||
| 2014 | Toledo | co-offensive coordinatorbonuses up to $1,500 | $133,050 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Connecticut’s state payroll (Open Data Portal): what the state actually paid in the calendar year, salary and special payments together.
Contract pay and the state payroll differ by design: one is the season’s contract, the other what the state paid in a calendar or fiscal year, so a December hire’s short first year, bonuses and camp money paid as special payments, and pay that ran on after he left all show in the payroll.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Candle’s teams went for it on 23% of fourth downs and on 41% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 47% of plays and took 24.8 seconds a play, 2016–2026.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 12 g | Toledo | 9 of 74 12% | 21% | 47% | 24.5 | +0.23 | |
| 2017 14 g | Toledo | 19 of 101 19% | 33% | 45% | 26.1 | +0.12 | |
| 2018 13 g | Toledo | 20 of 97 21% | 33% | 45% | 23.8 | +0.10 | |
| 2019 12 g | Toledo | 31 of 99 31% | 46% | 43% | 24.6 | +0.07 | |
| 2020 6 g | Toledo | 13 of 42 31% | 50% | 50% | 25.5 | +0.16 | |
| 2021 13 g | Toledo | 22 of 106 21% | 39% | 50% | 24.6 | +0.09 | |
| 2022 13 g | Toledo | 22 of 106 21% | 39% | 45% | 24.2 | +0.04 | |
| 2023 14 g | Toledo | 23 of 91 25% | 53% | 44% | 25.1 | +0.12 | |
| 2024 13 g | Toledo | 32 of 111 29% | 49% | 54% | 23.4 | −0.04 | |
| 2025 13 g | Toledo | 18 of 95 19% | 39% | 48% | 26.6 | +0.08 | |
| 2026 6 g | UConn | 13 of 40 33% | 60% | 49% | 25.4 | +0.17 | |
| All 129 g | 222 of 962 23% | 41% | 47% | 24.8 | +0.10 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.