Q&A With Head Coach Jason Candle

Jason Candle was named MAC Coach of the Year in 2017.

8/1/2018 9:14:00 AM | Football

Preseason training camp begins this Friday, Aug. 3 for the defending MAC Champion Toledo Rockets. Third-year head coach Jason Candle sat down recently to discuss the development of his team heading into the 2018 campaign.

Q: How would you assess your team going into training camp?

Candle: I think we are maturing at a rapid rate and leadership is being developed at key positions. There are also younger players who have accelerated the process of learning how to practice and what the expectations are. A lot of that comes with senior leadership. How quickly a team can maybe develop from the top to the bottom depends on senior leadership. Our seniors have done a great job in that area.

Q: Coming off a MAC Championship season, do you change anything in the way you approach this year?

Candle: We built our scheme to match our players in years past and have been very successful in doing that—offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. The challenges remain the same as we approach this year, too. You can't get caught up in the great seniors we had on last year's team. They're gone, they're not coming back and we're well aware of that. We've planned for this for a long time. You don't project your program or your team a year out. You project it as you recruit, you project it as you develop scheme and how you are going to develop players years in advance. The possible shortcomings we might have felt our team would have moving into this year were identified a long time ago. So now the fun part is to get the moving pieces in the right place to keep all the arrows in your program headed in the right direction. That's where you go from a good team to a great team, if you can get all those arrows going in the right direction and get everybody on the same page. That's what we're constantly working to do each and every day.

Q: Is there an advantage in knowing that most of your players have experienced a championship season?

Candle: It's a validation of your work and the effort and all the things that we have been preaching to them through their years. There's a belief that it can be done now, and that's a major step forward in the right direction. As we move forward, that's irreplaceable. A lot of great seniors showed us the way last year. You always plan to replace those players with other good players, but you also wonder if they can handle it emotionally and mentally like the group did last year. I feel like they showed our younger players how to do that.

Q: Different positions tend to be a focus from year to year. This season, a lot of focus will be on your receiving corps. What makes them special?

Candle: It's a very talented group, as decorated a group as maybe any position during my tenure here. The good thing about that is they still have a lot of room for improvement. A lot of things are out there on the table for them to accomplish individually and as a group. I think that's what brings the spirit of competition every day. Not only are they great competitors but they are close off the field, which makes it really fun to coach them. There's always a competitive drive to make each other the best that they possibly can be. When you have that, a player's full potential can be reached and I think that's a special thing.

Q: Obviously a lot of focus is on the big three—Cody Thompson, Diontae Johnson and Jon'Vea Johnson. But it's more than just those three, correct?

Candle: Danzel McKinley-Lewis and Desmond Phillips have played a lot of football for us. Danzel started 14 games for us and was a huge factor in our MAC Championship Game win. Desmond Phillips is in that same category. Both of those guys were relatively new to playing wide receiver coming out of high school. Desmond was a high school quarterback and Danzel had only played there for a year or two. They are getting better at rapid pace. Another one to watch is sophomore Bryce Mitchell. When we recruited Bryce, we really did not know where he was going to fit from a position standpoint. We didn't know if his body would take off and grow him into a big skill position at tight end or maybe even a defensive lineman. But he has really excelled at receiver. The growth process for him on and off the field has been great to see. We've also got some talented young guys who are coming along as well. Our challenge is to continue to make sure that the growth of those guys continues at the same pace.

Q: Cody, Diontae and Jon'Vea have all put up big numbers in their careers. Cody set the school record for receiving yards in 2016 and Diontae turns around and breaks it last year. All three have caught at least 10 TD passes in a season, the first time in FBS history a team had three returnees do that. Are there ever conversations about statistics, comparisons between guys, etc.?

Candle: Those three guys are very competitive and they ultimately want to succeed each and every day. Sure, statistics are important. They're important to every young player, but that's not the end all and be all of who those guys are as people and players. They're very close off the field. I think if you asked them, they would tell you that the success of this football team is much more important than individual success. They all have big dreams and goals for themselves. It's been fun to watch them help each other and achieve what they set out to become.

Q: What does having Cody Thompson back for a fifth year mean to this team?

Candle: Anytime you're trying to build a championship program, the best players have to set the standard in the room for what the pulse of the team should be. They need to show how everyone should communicate with one another how they should approach practice, how they should approach team meetings, how they should act off the field and so on. Cody is a perfect example of that. He was voted as a team captain for the second time, he has a 3.7-plus GPA and has done countless things to help out in our community. The great thing is, you can say all those things and he's an All-American level player, too. He embodies everything we want in our program.

Q: At tight end, you moved Jordan Fisher to linebacker during the spring. Obviously, you wouldn't make a move like that unless you were confident in the guys behind him. Is this a permanent move?

Candle: Jordan had a great spring. There is a learning curve. New things happen every time he takes a rep. The more "at bats" he gets the better off he will be. He's a very selfless kid who is all about this football team. I think he really believes he can help us at linebacker and so do I. As for tight end, we have lots of talent there. Jamal Turner, Drew Rosi and Reggie Gilliam, can be as good as they want to become. They bring a little different skill set to the group. As for Jordan, we're not ruling out bringing him back for some snaps at tight end, but those other guys will be just fine.

Q: What will you base your decision on as far as choosing your starting quarterback?

Candle: Fall camp and the different situations we put them in as coaches are a major part of the evaluation piece. We'd be crazy not to take every opportunity to evaluate and throw that all in the mix before we make a decision on who the guy is to lead our football team. That position is the most scrutinized position in sports and rightfully so, but you have to make sure all your T's are crossed and I's are dotted when you're evaluating and making that call.

Q: You feel that whoever you choose could lead this team?

Candle: I do. We can't expect whoever the quarterback is to have the leadership capabilities that a fifth-year senior (Logan Woodside) had last year, but we have to prepare somebody to give our football team a chance to win games. That's our job, that's our duty. The players have a major say in that as well. Body language and how guys interact with their teammates, I think that's a major part of this too. We have a very good quarterback coach in Coach (Brian) Wright. He's got a very good grasp on what that looks like; I have a good grasp myself on what that looks like. I think whichever guy comes out of the pack after fall camp, we will be very confident in him. There are also a couple of talented freshmen coming in who we haven't had a chance to get our hands on yet, so you don't rule out anybody at this point in time.

Q: Is there another battle at running back behind Art Thompkins and Shakif Seymour, or could that position be by committee?

Candle: Art and Shakif have the most snaps and the most experience. They are very talented in their own individual way. We're trying to find a complete three-down back; if not, then it will be by committee. In addition to Art and Shakif, we have some other guys we are looking at. Ronnie Jones moved over from safety to play running back, and he looked very good during the spring. Nick Sims is a very talented young player coming off of his redshirt season. Bryant Koback, a transfer from Kentucky, could be a factor depending on whether he is ruled eligible to play this fall (Note: Koback was ruled eligible by the NCAA on July 30). It's a very talented room. The standard of running back play here has been set very high for the last five or six years, and even a couple decades before that. So these guys know what that means and what the expectations are. They practice very hard. We're very excited to watch somebody emerge out of that group, or a couple of guys if it ends up being running back by committee. We will be strong there either way.

Q: Why did you move Ronnie Jones to running back?

Candle: It's his natural position. That was his position coming out of high school. He's played running back for his entire life. Certainly we wouldn't have made that move if we didn't think it would help our football team. He's a good player. We have to find ways to get him on the field and give him the ball.

Q: What did you think of Bryant Koback during the spring?

Candle: Koback was very impressive. He's a change of pace guy. Very good vision, quick feet. He can hit the big one, too. He brings a lot to the table. Certainly, we want to see what he looks like coming back off the summer workouts and in fall camp.

Q: It seems like the same story every year for your offensive line. You lose some good players, others move up and the offense keeps rolling.

Candle: That's the foundation of who we are offensively. Those guys have to play well for us to win. Last year they played very well in 11 games, the games we won. The games we didn't win, unfortunately they didn't play so well. That's just the way it goes. If you're not good up front you don't really have a chance. We had multiple starting groups last year and multiple guys playing different positions, so that puts us in a good position this year. Coach Hallett has done a really good job at getting eight to nine guys ready for each and every football game. If you're talking about offensive success, success running the ball and setting up some of the play-action passes, that group has to be rock solid. I'm excited to see about what fall camp looks like for them. We have a great group of guys who have had a lot of experience, guys like Chandler Cotterman, Sami Kassem, Bryce Harris and Yazeed Atariwa, and others who have had some experience. Brock Ruble, a fifth-year transfer from Florida State, could also be a factor. We also have a talented group of young guys coming up, guys from last year's freshman class like Kedonis Haslem, Kelvin Ateman, Woody Lankford, Mitch Berg. We're just trying to find the best five and then some key backups that can be really effective when they get their opportunities.

Q: What are your impressions of the defense coming out of spring? What are your strengths?

Candle: We are very experienced in the secondary. Josh Teachey, Kahlil Robinson and DeDarallo Blue were all full-time players for us at safety last year. Tycen Anderson is coming along as a very promising young player that played a lot for us as a freshman. Ka'dar Hollman and Justin Clark are back at cornerback. Mix in that talent with the young guys coming along, Victor Williams, DeAmonte King, Sam Womack and Jordan Hendy, a junior college kid who has come in here and done a very good job. Dakari Carter, a young guy who enrolled in January, is another guy that's very talented. That's a strong group of cover guys.

Q: How about at linebacker?

Candle: We definitely have experience at linebacker, as well. Tyler Taafe started in every game last year, and Richard Olekanma also played a lot. We get Tre'Shun Wilson back after coming off of a knee injury last year. Jordan Fisher is moving over from tight end to linebacker. He looked very good in the spring. We've got Evander Craft, a junior college transfer who has been impressive in preseason workouts. Dan Bolton, an early enrollee, is a potential name to look out for. Saeed Holt is an outside backer who is playing Dedarallo Blue's spot as well.

Q: You lost three starters on the defensive line. What's the competition looking like there?

Candle: For starters, we have three edge guys coming back from injury—Tuzar Skipper, Obi Anunike and Chris Norwood. On the interior we have Nate Childress, who was a starter for us last year, as well as Reggie Howard, who played a lot of football for us. You supplement them with guys like Tyrone Chambers, Devonte' Dunn, David Hood and Edrick Mathews, young guys who have waited their turn patiently to show what they've got. We may be a little inexperienced at some spots, but overall our defensive line is very talented.

Q: You have one of the nation's top kickers in Jameson Vest. What are your thoughts on special teams as a whole?

Candle: We return experienced players at both placekicker and punter, so that's a plus. Jameson had a great year last year and continues to get better. I love his work ethic and his attention to detail. At punter, Bailey Flint is improving at a steady pace. Coming from Australia as a freshman last year was a whole new experience for him in everyday life, let alone football. He will be much better at everything this year. We are breaking in a new long snapper, so there will be competition at that position. We also have a great group of kickoff and punt returners in Danzel McKinley-Lewis, Diontae Johnson and Desmond Phillips.