Candle takes the reigns

The University of Toledo announced former Offensive Coordinator Jason Candle as the 27th head football coach replacing former coach Matt Campbell after a five-day span that felt like five years.

Candle is taking over a program that just won nine games and has improved each season, something a lot of new coaches can’t say when taking over a program.

But was this the right hire for the Rockets?

I think so.

Although I have to admit I thought Jon Heacock would be named the head coach because of his 31 years of coaching experience, this hire makes just as much sense.

Candle, who just turned 36 in November, will become the fourth-youngest head coach in college football.

But his age doesn’t matter; the only number that does matter is the number of wins he can bring to the program.

Just a little west of his hometown of Salem, Ohio, Candle attended Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio which has been a Division III powerhouse claiming 11 national titles since 1993.

As an assistant there from 2003-08, the Purple Raiders posted a remarkable 83-4 record with five National Championship appearances and winning three of them.

Did I mention he won two National Championship as a player in 2000 and 2001? The man has been molded to know how to win.

After being hired in 2009 under former UT coach Tim Beckman, he was promoted to Offensive Coordinator in 2012 shortly after Campbell took over as head coach.

In 2014 under his control as OC, UT led the MAC in just about every major offensive category, including scoring offense (36.6), total offense (490.5) and rushing offense (256.4).

Not much should change with the offensive production as long as he is calling the plays. Candle told me that he won’t change anything until after the bowl game, where he will decide how to call the plays based on how they perform.

What else makes this the right move?

The players wanted him and that was seen clearly by their reactions on Twitter and after the press conference talking to them. And when a team goes 9-2, the players get some say in the decision making.

In 2010, Candle was named one of the top recruiters in the nation by Rivals.com. He was one of only nine coaches in the country from non-automatic BCS qualifying conferences to be named to the list and the only coach from the MAC.

He was named the Mid-American Conference “Recruiter of the Year” by Scout.com in both 2011 and 2012 and UT’s 2011 recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in the MAC by both Scout.com and Rivals.com.

He can coach the players up when they get here, but he has this way of getting them here as well. Look for Candle to continue to bring in one of the best recruiting classes in the MAC as players seem to gravitate to this man.

Not only did the players want him as head coach, but so did Campbell, as he recommended him for the job.

As of now, the hire looks like a great one but only time will tell.

Candle will get a chance to show what he’s made of when Toledo takes on Temple in the Marmot Baco Raton Bowl on Dec. 22.