UConn has named Toledo’s Jason Candle its new football coach, replacing Jim Mora.
Candle, 46, and UConn agreed to a six-year contract late Friday, and informed his Toledo players he was leaving in a team meeting Saturday morning. The winningest coach in Toledo program history, Candle will get a six-year contract at UConn.
Both UConn (9-3) and Toledo (8-4) are bowl eligible and will learn their assignments on Sunday. Offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis will coach UConn’s bowl game.
Candle is expected to be introduced at UConn on Monday, and will attend the men’s basketball game against Florida at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
“We are thrilled to welcome Jason Candle as the next head coach of UConn football,” UConn AD David Benedict said, in a statement released by the university. “Jason’s track record speaks for itself; he is the winningest coach in Toledo history with 81 victories, two MAC Championships, and a program that has consistently competed at the highest level. He has built a culture of excellence both on and off the field, developing young men who succeed at the next level.”
Candle, a native of Salem, Ohio, has spent his entire coaching career in his home state, at Mount Union and, since 2009, at Toledo. He took over for Matt Campbell in December 2015, winning a bowl game as interim coach, and compiled an 81-44 record, without ever finishing below .500 in a season. Toledo is bowl eligible for the eighth time under Candle, who has drawn several highly-rated recruiting classes in a row, the highest rated in MAC history in 2024.
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Unlike Mora, who revived the UConn program, which did not have a winning season between 2010 and 2024, by working the transfer portal, Candle does not have NFL experience to draw upon. But he does have a proven track record as a head coach at the Group-of-Five level, knows the possibilities and limitations of coaching at this level, especially in the compensation/transfer portal era, and though UConn is an independent, it plays schedules heavy with Group-of-Five conference opponents, including several from the MAC.
“I am honored to be named the head football coach at the University of Connecticut,” Candle said, via the UConn statement. “UConn is a prestigious institution and I’m grateful to David Benedict and the leadership team for entrusting me with this opportunity. (My family) and I are excited to join the Husky family and become part of the Storrs community. UConn has all the ingredients for success: outstanding facilities, passionate fans, and a commitment to excellence. I look forward to building on the incredible momentum here and developing a program that builds young men of character and makes our fans and alumni proud. I can’t wait to get to work with our student-athletes and staff.”
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Toledo won MAC titles in 2017 and 2022, and Candle was the conference coach of the year in 2023 after the Rockets were 8-0 in regular season league play and cracked the AP Top 25.
“Jason Candle is a great football coach but an even greater developer of men,” said Campbell, who left Iowa State for Penn State this week. ” Jason will build a championship program and culture for this proud program.”
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni played and coached with Candle at Mount Union.
“UConn has hired an excellent head coach, and an even better person,” Sirianni said. ” Having played and coached alongside Jason, I know the kind of competitor he is and have extreme confidence that he will put everything he has into the Huskies’ program. His knowledge of the game is second to none, and his abilities as a leader have always allowed him to maximize the potential of his players and staff.”
Benedict launched a national search on Nov. 26 after Mora accepted the position at Colorado State. Candle emerged as the main target once the search picked up speed. He visited UConn’s campus on Thursday for a lengthy interview, and had dinner with Geno Auriemma that night.
“After meeting with him, it’s clear his vision and enthusiasm make him the right person to lead our football program and continue to build on the momentum of the last four seasons,” Auriemma said.
Tulane, also searching for a coach, was reportedly after Candle, too, but UConn closed the deal.