Jason Candle is entering his 10th season as the head coach of the Toledo Rockets. A two-time MAC Coach of the Year, Candle has led Toledo to two MAC Championships and has an overall record of 73-40. His next victory will make him Toledo's all-time leader, passing coaching legend Gary Pinkel.
Q: We're about a month removed from the end of the spring practice season. What's your overall assessment of your team right now?
Candle: I would start back in January and look at how we tried to construct our roster. We had a good core group of veteran players back, and then we added some good veteran players in January -- transfers and some early-enrolled freshmen -- that we had to get ingrained into the culture of our team. We started off with a great winter workout session, and I think (Strength & Conditioning) Coach
Brad Bichey did a really good job of setting the table for the discipline required to be successful. Then, our senior leaders and assistant coaches did a really good job through spring practice of trying to carry that message. It really led to some very productive practices.
Post spring practice, we're adding some more players from the Portal, and then the rest of the freshmen are being added in June. It's a unique time in college athletics because you are constantly evaluating and acquiring talent, and then integrating new players into your system, into your culture. It takes really strong leadership from everybody to make that a seamless transition. It's never perfect, but I think we've done a good job with that. We're excited where we're at and looking forward to a productive summer.
Q: You mentioned leaders. Do you have a sense for who those leaders are now, or is that something that is still developing as you head toward the season?
Candle: Yeah, I think that's still an ongoing thing. It's still a developmental process for these guys as well. They're capable but may have not been in that position before. They've made a lot of plays on the field, but maybe their voice hasn't been required to be heard as much as it will need to be this year. We've got to try to continue to find ways to organically create situations where they can lead us through tough moments. That starts back in January and will continue to be an ongoing process through fall camp.
Q: Clearly one of those leaders is senior quarterback Tucker Gleason. What are your expectations for him as the leader of the offense?
Candle: Tucker is heading into Year Two as a starter so naturally there's going to be some expectations for him. We've got to continue to put him in situations where he can be successful, to continue to build connectivity with the players around him. We've added some really key pieces to the offensive line. We beefed up the running back room with some great additions there. Now you've got two highly competitive rooms that are competing for playing time, so that should lead to a really solid foundation in the running game. That's every quarterback's dream because that leads to solid pass protection and allows you to make the decisions required for you to play your position at a really high level. I'm really excited for what it looks like for him moving forward, happy with his development and his growth. He should have a lot of confidence going into Year Two as a starter because I think there's just some things that you naturally feel better about than going into Year One.
Q: What do you think the strength of this year's team will be?
Candle: We have a relatively veteran group of players. Maybe some of them aren't quite as experienced as far as game reps and starts, but they're veteran players. Older players, especially ones that have been here for the duration, usually have a really good process. When you combine a really good process with high character individuals, more times than not you can expect really good results. The challenge is, we can't see yet how they will handle the challenges that show up throughout the course of a football season, throughout the course of preseason camp. There are things that you don't anticipate, but they do show up and how we respond will ultimately define who we are and what we are. We're off to a productive start in this process and looking forward to a great summer and a productive preseason camp.
Q: You lost some great players from last year's team, including Darius Alexander, a third-round NFL pick, Maxen Hook, Jerjuan Newton, and many others. That's nothing new for this program, but how do you approach replacing players like that?
Candle: You reluctantly say goodbye to those guys. You allow them to move on. You allow them to go and chase their NFL dream. The final piece of this journey is there for them. And you wish them nothing but the best of luck. Then you have to turn your focus to the guys that are here. I think that leads to a conversation and a storyline that doesn't get told enough, and that's retention. Everybody wants to know who's going in the Portal, where they're going, what their NIL contract is going to look like. That's the world we've created in college sports. But I don't think the story of retention gets told enough. We have lots of guys on our roster that have had opportunities at other places. People recruiting them and telling them whatever they want to hear to get them to go into the Portal. But their loyalty to Toledo, their loyalty to this program, their loyalty to their friendships and relationships that they've created in a locker room, is what keeps them here. That really makes you proud as a coach that those guys see this thing through and stick it out. It makes you really want to go work hard for them to put them in a position where they can be successful. I'm just excited to get moving, excited to get going and excited to get back on the practice field, have a great preseason camp and kick this thing off.
Q: What is your approach to signing players from the Portal?
Candle: I think we have a very distinct approach on what we're looking for in the Portal. It can be really hard to identify your needs if you can't tell yourself the truth on where the holes are. I thought, going back in December and January, right after the bowl game, our staff did a really good job of assessing where we were and where we wanted to go. We've got high expectations here and we're not hiding from that. We kind of lean into that. But you can only do that if you identify the holes that need to be filled on your team. I think we did a good job of going and finding specific needs in the Portal. Look, I don't ever want to be the program that lives in the Transfer Portal each and every year if that's the only way you define yourself and build your team. We've got some really solid high school football players that we've signed in the last 12 months, many of whom came here in January. Watching their development was as joyful to see as anything.
So we piece it all together. We have some high-level players that will be day-one starters for us the minute that they step on campus. Then you have another group of guys that you're really excited for because each and every day is new for them. And you continue to allow them to develop at their own at their own pace, and someday maybe they'll be that guy that turns into a
Darius Alexander or a Quinyon Mitchell, a homegrown player who stayed here for all four or five years and ended up walking across the stage and shaking the commissioner's hand at the NFL Draft.
Q: You've had a chance through spring ball see some of the Transfer Portal guys. Is there anyone out of that group that you feel excited about, who could potentially be a significant part of the team next year?
Candle: We had to address the running game, as I mentioned before, and I think we added some really key pieces on the offensive line. Watching that unit gel together has been really a good process to see. We also added two running backs,
Chip Trayanum and
Kenji Christian. I think those guys will be able to help us get back to where we like to be -- at the top of our league in rushing statistics. That sets the table for everything else and allows a quarterback to play efficient football. So being able to get those pieces in place was step number one back in January. Also, in the last couple of years we've lost some NFL-level players in the secondary, so we had to add some pieces there. I like the development in that room. I think that we're as deep in the secondary as we have been ever in my time here. But the whole thing is still coming together and piecing together as we speak. We just need to make sure that our progression continues to move us in the right direction.
Q: Are there any younger players currently on the team, maybe who played special teams in the past, who are ready to step into a bigger role?
Candle: I think the first thing that comes to mind is the wide receiver room. We had a future Rocket Hall of Famer,
Jerjuan Newton, here for so long. He was so consistent and so good. You hate to see a guy like that go. But now there are guys at that position that patiently waited for their turn. I think some of those guys had really good springs. Then you flip it over to the defensive side of the ball. Some of the guys at the second level, at linebacker, some of the edge guys that have been really key contributors on special teams the last couple of years, they're going to step in and have their opportunity to start for the first time on defense. I'm excited for those guys. There's a good mix of players that have come in that you could be excited about and there's another group that have patiently waited their turn to play. Then you have early enrolled freshmen who kind of burst onto the scene and had really good spring practices.
Q: You mentioned receivers. Junior Vandeross III, by any measure, has been an outstanding player. What are your expectations for him next year?
Candle: For starters, Junior has an infectious personality. He brings a lot of energy to the football field. I think that's a really a good thing because I know it's coming from an authentic place. He plays with passion and desire, and he brings the same type of energy to the practice field each and every day. In my opinion, he's a future NFL Draft pick. When you're a future draft pick and you have infectious energy, it's a matter of channeling that into really good work, each and every day. That helps move our football team forward. It's really easy to get caught up in the past. It's a trap, a road that you can't go down. You need to consistently look for what lies ahead, and the future is very bright for that young man. I think he's done a great job with that, from January when we got back to work, to right now. And he's going to have to continue on that same path to have the kind of season that he wants to have individually, and so we can have the year we want to have collectively as a team.
Q: Balance on offense is important for you. Do you feel like an improved running game will help Junior and the passing game in general?
Candle: We want to make sure that we balance the offense. We don't want to run the football into a wall where there's extra players at the line of scrimmage, and then we don't want to throw the football when there's an extra cover guy back there. I think that's the challenge across college football, the game within the game. Can you get premier looks when you have them, and can you capitalize on them? You don't have a chance to do that if there's not the balance that we're talking about.
Q: On defense, safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren was having another outstanding season until his season-ending injury last year. What are your expectations for him?
Candle: I think
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren is in the same category as Junior. He's another future draft pick who has had incredible production at safety. He's got the body type and can run like the guys that are picked in the NFL Draft. He has the same challenge as Junior, to have a great senior year by producing in the present and not worrying about what lies ahead. He's got a great demeanor, a great mindset. He works really, really hard at football. He's a self-motivated guy when it comes to daily improvement. He has a curious mind with a goal to consistently get better at football. Coach (Ross) Watson has done an unbelievable job continuing to put out guys out of safety room that end up playing in the NFL. He's on the right path. We need a big senior season out of him, and we need him to use his sphere of influence to make others around him consistently better too.
Q: Cornerback Avery Smith is another player who had a breakout season last year. I would imagine you want even more from him this year.
Candle: I'm really proud of Avery. Being able to make the switch from quarterback to defense, that's not a very common thing. And then to ultimately do it at a really high level, that's another feat in itself. He's done a really good job of leading others, too. Coach (Perry) Eliano has done a really good job of guiding him along that process. Hopefully, he will get the opportunity to chase his professional dreams as well. In the meantime, he's one of those guys that we need to lead us to a championship because his work is authentic. He does it the right way each and every day.
Q: One thing we probably don't talk enough about is your coaching staff. Can talk about the importance of the continuity of your staff when it comes to recruiting and player development?
Candle: We've worked really hard to maintain great relationships on our coaching staff. There's a balance, a very fine line between consistency and complacency. We can't afford to become complacent just because we're very familiar with one another. There is a new team and a new set of challenges each and every year. Our staff has done a really good job of being able to reset, focus and reorganize and get their players ready to play at a high level. The challenges will be the same this fall. We've got to get this group to be the best version of themselves. We've got to squeeze every ounce of the juice out of the orange that we possibly can. This group of players has been very loyal to Toledo and to our program and to us as a staff. I think we owe it to them to make sure that we do everything in our power to get as much out of the season as we can. There is not a better group of coaches that I would love to do this with. They're very loyal to the program and have worked really, really hard to put our young people in position to be successful. As a head coach, that's all you can really ask from your staff.
Q: You are taking your team to the University of Mount Union for the first part of training camp. This is something new for your program, but also a kind of homecoming for you as that's your alma mater, as well as other coaches on your staff.
Candle: I think it's a unique opportunity to find a way to continue to help make our team as connected as possible. There's no better way to do that than to be able to sit down and have a meal together. There's no better way to do that than to be away in a remote location where you can be together every hour of the day and really work on the task at hand. Preseason camp is for the development of your football team in all phases. This will allow us to do that. This is a unique situation because not many programs have the opportunity to go do this at a place like Mount Union. For myself and many guys on our staff, there are those memories that hold a special place in our hearts. So, it'll be cool to go back. I think our players will be excited to go see where their coaches played and developed as young coaches. But then it will be time to be get down to business and get the work done.
