Rockets Open 2025 Spring Season with First of 15 Practices

Senior quarterback Tucker Gleason returns to the Rockets after throwing for 2,808 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2024.

Photo by: Bree Bee

Rockets Open 2025 Spring Season with First of 15 Practices

2/24/2025 1:19:00 PM | Football

Toledo returns four All-MAC players and starting quarterback Tucker Gleason from last season's 8-5 squad

TOLEDO, Ohio - The 2025 spring football practice season began today for the Toledo Rockets with Head Coach Jason Candle's squad eager to continue its preparations for the 2025 season.

The Rockets opened practice in the Fetterman Training Center in the first of 15 spring practices form now until the final practice on April 4.

"A lot of energy here at practice one," said Candle, a two-time MAC Coach of the Year who enters his 10th season as head coach with the Rockets. "It's that time of year when everyone is tired of touching cones, running over lines, jumping over hurdles and things like that. It's time to play football. The trick is to take the lessons learned through January and February and apply them to practice. I thought our guys did a really good of that today."

The Rockets return 52 letterwinners and four All-MAC players from last season's 8-5 squad, including senior quarterback Tucker Gleason, who threw for 2,808 yards and 24 TDs last season. His top target was first-team All-MAC wide receiver Junior Vandeross, who led Toledo with 85 receptions last year. Vandeross was also named GameAbove Sports Bowl MVP following a 12-reception and 194-yard performance in the Rockets' 48-46 six-overtime win vs. Pitt.

Other All-MAC returners are second-team selections Avery Smith at cornerback and Bryson Hammer at punt returner. Offensive lineman Ethan Spoth was a third-team All-MAC pick.

Head Coach Jason Candle and his staff will use the spring to continue evaluations at all positions. The Rockets will be looking to replace several players who played key roles on a team that has gone 28-13 over the past three seasons and made two trips to the MAC Championship Game.

Toledo opens the 2025 season at Kentucky on Saturday, Aug. 30 before returning home for a pair of games at the Glass Bowl vs. Western Kentucky on Sept. 6 and Morgan State on Sept. 13. The Rockets also have a road game at Washington State on Oct. 25. The Mid-American Conference slate will be announced at a later date.

Jason Candle Post-Practice News Conference (Feb. 24, 2025)

How was the first day of practice?
"A lot of energy here at practice one. It's that time of year when everyone is tired of touching cones, running over lines, jumping over hurdles and things like that. It's time to play football. The trick is to take the lessons learned through January and February and apply them to practice. I thought our guys did a really good of that today.There were some ugly moments, some good ones, and some highlighted things, but we'll go watch the tape, correct it and continue to get better."

You lost four of five captains from last year. How important is it to identify the leaders of the team?
"Well, we've been blessed here with some great players the last few years that have not only talked it but walked it too. They've set a good example at these particular positions, especially the ones you're mentioning. Guys move on and I think it's concerning to the outside fan, concerning sometimes to the coaches, and it's worrisome for what it's going to look like. I feel confident in the culture of our team and the guys in our locker room that they've paid attention to those great players who have moved on and paid attention to the standard of excellence of how they operated, have watched carefully, and will be able to apply what they've witnessed the last few years."

How have you seen some of the guys that were younger last year like Nasir Bowers and Avery Smiht take on those leadership roles?
"We're coming out of the whole COVID baby moment. We have real seniors now; we don't have sixth and seventh-year guys. You hope those guys that are four-year players and didn't redshirt, that they've paid attention and done a really good job of doing their homework on this part of it. I feel really good about them and those two guys that you mentioned are going to have to step up and play their position at a high level while also leading our team in the right direction."

Last season ended on such a high note. How do you carry that momentum into workouts and now spring?
"That certainly helps. There's different variables that pop up throughout the year that impact you in a positive way and/or in a negative way, and you want to pull the good and highlight those things as you head into the offseason. You have to pay attention to the things that went wrong too and we have to fix those. It's the only way for growth and that's what we're trying to do; we're trying to grow every day and get a little bit better."

How long does it take to realize how much of an impact a transfer can make? Is it in the spring, in the summer? When does that happen?
"We've watched guys come and handle that process at a high level too. A guy might come in from whatever school and still be hung up on how things are done at that old, particular place, wherever that place may be. We don't do a lot of that. These guys have bought in to do a good job of investing in our culture and trying to make strong relationships in our locker room. I give a lot of credit to those dudes and I give a lot of credit to our guys who are here for welcoming them in. It's a non-threatening environment for a new player coming in both ways. Your team has to handle it the right way and the person coming into your organization has to handle it the right way too."

How have you seen (transfer) Chip Trayanum start to handle that already and what do you hope he can bring to the team?
"I think that he's a super talented player and a guy that can have immediate impact. We're expecting that and that's part of the process in today's football when it comes to the transfer portal. It's created a lot of competition, Kenji Christian's been a great addition to our (running back) room as well, and you have a couple of really good players who are returning. It's created a lot of competition in that room and I think that's what you're searching for at every position, to try and see if we can make each other better. What matters the most when have to come together as one."

Tucker (Gleason) has had a year under his belt now as a starter. How important was this winter and now into the spring for him to continue to process?
"I challenged him to be more vocal, to take command, and to take the next step as a player. I think that if you can do that from a decision-making, processing, and accuracy standpoint, then naturally you're going to be a great leader because guys are going to want to follow the guy that does it right all the time. He's a smart kid who's highly invested in his future, highly invested in our football program, and a guy we're going to lean on heavily down the stretch."

You have two guys (Darius Alexander and Maxen Hook) at the combine this week. Curious about your thoughts on them, what they did at the Senior Bowl, and how they might do this weekend.
"Obviously we've created an expectation around here that when you graduate, you'll have chances to play at the next level. It was never set out to be that way, it was never set out to be that that was going to be a main focal point. We just try to recruit highly talented people who buy into the work and what's required of them to be great. I think we've got an airtight developmental process here. Coach (Brad) Bichey, our strength coach, and that staff do an unbelievable job of helping get the most out of players, and our coaching staff does as well. They're two highly talented individuals who are on their biggest stage here and trying to do a great job and represent our program, themselves, and their families in a first-class manner. I'm proud of them and a couple of other guys who didn't get invited to the Combine, really proud of the situation they're in too, and they're going to have a great opportunity when our Pro Day rolls around. It's another offseason where we can hopefully make some noise in this draft process."

I know it's a logistics thing, but you guys aren't having a spring game, a million teams aren't having a spring game, and you've been through a bunch of spring practices. Is there anything that you'd like to see re-imagined about the spring calendar or go more NFL-like, just bigger picture?
"I think everybody's going to have a vote for what would benefit them in that particular time. What benefits us is practice, what benefits us is development, and I think a spring game is part of that process. I watched Grant Zimmerly in our spring game snap the ball over the quarterback's head about 46 times. I also watched a young Grant Zimmerly go and start against Mississippi State and kick some tail. I think there are moments that prepare you for the bigger steps that are ahead. You can't always simulate those and you can't always fabricate those, but being in front of your fans and being in front of a crowd is different, and I think that's part of the growth process. I'm not trying to hide our players; everybody recruits our players anyways. There's nothing to hide, we're not hiding anybody, just logistically this year it doesn't look like it's going to be able to happen (with new turf going into the Glass Bowl). I think that part of having a game and part of being in front of your fans is part of the process in the spring."

What do you think about the suggestion that people would watch your game and steal your players like some coaches have suggested?
"Come get them. They do it anyway so it doesn't matter if you have a game or not, that's how I feel about it.

New turf in the stadium, how big of a deal is that?
"It needed an upgrade; we're due. Thanks to our administration and credit to the people that are trying to make the things around our football program better every day and try to make sure that our players' experience is the best it possibly can be. I'm excited about that."