Candidate Tier #: MAC

Who Is He?

Jason Candle is the head coach at Toledo and he is very young and very inexperienced. Perfect!

Well, he’s perfect in that he’s attainable. Candle would be cheaper than some of our dream hires and I can’t quite put my finger on why, but I find his youth to be a huge asset. Younger guys are less set in their ways and so I guess after seeing some stuck-in-their-ways guys at Purdue for a while, I’m ready for someone still molding their approach.

Candle is 37 and was Matt Campbell’s OC at Toledo and before he was there, he was the OC at Mount Union, a D-III school that won two conference titles and a national title with Candle as OC. Candle was the OC for three nine-win seasons in four years at Toledo and then ascended to the HC spot when Campbell moved on to Iowa State.

Why would he be successful at Purdue?

As I noted, Candle is young enough to adapt but experienced enough to have proven he can put an innovative offense together. Whether as a position coach, coordinator or head coach, Candle has yet to be part of a bad season, with most seasons, in fact, being extremely good. He builds on successes and gets better. Purdue could use some of that.

Why could he flop at Purdue?

By the same token, he’s still what you might call young and inexperienced for the Power 5 level, particularly at a school that is a challenge in terms of recruiting and fan support among those Power 5 programs. Candle doesn’t have name cachet, so he won’t immediately win recruiting battles and will instead need to find diamonds in the rough and convert those into noteworthy seasons to begin gaining footholds.

Would he come to Purdue?

Yes, most likely. For whatever anyone thinks of Purdue in the world of Power 5 programs, it’s still a Big Ten school and is a better (and more lucrative) destination than Toledo.