A Toledo Football Coaching Staff Update

JASON CANDLE CONTINUES TO MAKE STAFFING HIRES

BY: ZACH HARIG -- JANUARY 7, 2016

Out with the old, in with the new, right? It has been over a month since Matt Campbell was named the next head coach at Iowa State, but Campbell's departure is much bigger than just himself. To nobody's surprise, Campbell basically cleaned house in the Glass City as far as a coaching staff is concerned. In fact, the lone coaches remaining in Toledo from Campbell's prior staff would be runningbacks coach, Anthony Johnson and wide receivers coach, Derek Sage, aside from Jason Candle himself, who obviously took the head coaching job. Once Candle accepted the head coaching position, it was time to get to work creating his own staff.

Jason Candle is the next head man in Toledo, but what about
the rest of his coaching staff?

Almost immediately, Candle made the hire of Hiedelberg University head coach, Mike Hallett to coach the offensive line. With the departure of former offensive line coach, Tom Manning, to Iowa State, Hallett has major shoes to fill with the Rockets. However, the Rockets will return four out of five starters along the offensive line in 2016, all but center Ruben Carter.

"I believe in the student-athlete experience," Hallett stated after being hired at Toledo, "And I believe in the coach's role in helping those students reach their full potential - academically, athletically, and socially. My job is to take the student where they cannot take themselves and I am happy to be joining Jason Candle and assisting the program to reach even higher goals."

Hallett, a 1994 Mount Union graduate, says his relationship with Candle is one that shares that special Purple Raider connection, "I have known Jason for a long time," Hallett said, "I am very excited to be a part of his first staff here at Toledo. I feel Toledo is the preeminent university in the Mid-American Conference and I am humbled to be a part of this great institution and its people."

Former Hiedelberg head coach, Mike Hallett, who is the next
offensive line coach at Toledo.
Photo Courtesy: UT Rockets.

One trait that is irreplaceable in the Hallett hire is his past experience as a head coach, no matter the level. Despite previously only being at the Division-III level, Hallett has obtained a tremendous reputation among his peers in the coaching industry as well as recruits and high school coaches. Aside from this, Hallett coached Hiedelberg to a 55-36 record over nine seasons and spent three seasons prior to that as the head coach at Thomas More College in Kentucky as well. Hallett will bring a local mindset to Toledo and should become a tremendous recruiter, particularly in the Ohio area, given his relationship with local high school coaches.

With the completed hire of Hallett, the offensive coaching staff for Candle and the Rockets is complete, for the most part. However, there is one lingering question - who will take over as offensive coordinator and will that person also assume the role of quarterbacks coach? Candle, a quarterback mastermind himself, worked with the quarterbacks during his time as offensive coordinator with the Rockets. However, it is extremely rare to see head coaches work with one particular position on a consistent basis, which makes this an interesting area to watch.

Shugarts (bottom right, yellow) poses with the offensive line
and Boca Raton Bowl trophy.
Photo: Shugarts' Twitter

Another major aspect to Candle's coaching staff, especially along the offensive line, is graduate assistant J.B. Shugarts. The former Ohio State offensive lineman also spent time with the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL and is a major part of Candle's coaching staff. Shugarts worked with the Rockets' offensive line in 2015 under Matt Campbell and will be sticking around in Toledo under Jason Candle. Shugarts was on the sidelines in 2015 and helped signal play calls in the Rockets' no-huddle offense. Obviously, it will be tough for the offensive line to repeat what happened in 2015 after not allowing a sack until nine games into the season. However, with the Hallett and Shugarts duo along with four returning starters up front, the Rockets should find success once again.

As for departures, former Toledo offensive lineman and graduate assistant, Jeff Myers will become a new offensive line graduate assistant at Iowa State under Matt Campbell. Following his departure, Candle will likely look to add one more graduate assistant to the staff for assistance. When the hire comes, don't expect it to be big news, but since graduate assistants are typically younger and fresh out of college, players seem to relate to them quickly. Therefore, the smallest hires, such as graduate assistants, can pay off in terms of team morale and reputability.

Former Toledo defensive coordinator takes to Twitter
as he departs for Iowa State.

On the defensive side of the ball, Jason Candle somewhat suffered from the coaching carousel. Following Campbell's departure to Iowa State, Toledo athletic director, Mike O'Brien quickly jumped into action by naming defensive coordinator, Jon Heacock as his interim head coach. However, just days later, Jason Candle obviously was hired in the permanent position. At his press conference, Candle stated, "I think highly of Coach (Jon) Heacock and hope that he is the defensive coordinator at Toledo for a long time." However, after the bowl game, Heacock announced that he would take his time to decide whether or not he would join Campbell's staff at Iowa State, or if he would remain with the Rockets. On January 2, the 31-year college coaching veteran announced that he'd be heading to Ames, Iowa to accept the Iowa State defensive coordinator position. Quickly after, Heacock took to Twitter to praise Candle.

Toledo defensive coordinator,
Brian George.
Photo: Kent State Rivals

After Heacock's decision, just over a month away from National Signing Day, Candle would need to scramble to replace his former acquaintance. Just two hours after news broke on Twitter that Heacock could be leaving, there was a report that Brian George of Kent State would become Toledo's next defensive coordinator. And it's true. The former defensive coordinator of the Golden Flashes is now in the Glass City assuming the same position. So who is Brian George? George arrived to Kent, Ohio as defensive line coach in 2011 after short stints with Indiana and Miami University. In January of 2013, two years after arriving at Kent State, George was promoted to defensive coordinator.

Despite Kent State struggling in years past, George has led a decently solid Golden Flash defense. Not only that, but George has coached several NFL-caliber players in Roosevelt Nix and Demetrius Monday.

At Toledo, George will assume the same positions that he held at Kent State, meaning that he will coach the defensive line with the Rockets as well. The Rockets lost defensive line coach, Eli Rasheed in the Iowa State takeover as well. Rasheed was well respected by the players he coached including Jayrone Elliott, who is now in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers. Aside from Rasheed, the Rockets also lost graduate assistant, Christian Smith to the Cyclones.

At linebackers, the Rockets will have another new coach. Tyson Veidt, the former linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator for the Rockets, was included in the Iowa State departure. Now, there are a few questions at the linebacker and safety positions in terms of coaching.

Ross Watson.

That coach may or may not be Ross Watson, who was hired without a specific position back on December 30. Watson will either assume the linebackers coaching position or will coach safeties, depending on one more hire that Candle will need to make, which is a matter of fit. However, Watson comes from Northern Illinois, where he coached linebackers last season. Prior to DeKalb, Watson had coaching stints defensively with Nebraska and Florida Atlanta before becoming the director of football operations and later, a coaches assistant to Bo Pelini at Youngstown State.

The relationship between Watson and Candle is a familiar one. Watson, also a Mount Union native, coached and played with Candle in years past. "I'm finally lucky enough to be a Rocket!" Watson told me. Look for Watson to also have an extreme impact in recruiting.

Toledo's next cornerbacks coach,
Cory Robinson.
Photo: UM Terps

In the defensive secondary, nothing new -- out with the old, in with the new. Out goes cornerbacks coach, D.K. McDonald to Iowa State, and in comes Cory Robinson. Robinson, the former director of player personnel at Maryland and cornerbacks coach at IGM Academy, where he worked with high school, college, and professional defensive backs. More importantly, IGM Academy is located in Bradenton, Florida, which is a hot-spot for Jason Candle and his recruiters. In fact, three of Toledo's last four commits are from the state of Florida, where Candle spent a lot of time recruiting during his time as offensive coordinator.

Robinson recently returned back to the Glass City from a vacation in Jamaica and has been getting acclimated to Rocket Nation and the new surroundings. However, Robinson did tell me that he is, "Doing great!" And is loving Northwest Ohio. Look for Robinson to have an intricate role in recruiting.

Another new member of Rocket Nation is Ricky Ciccone, who was hired in an off-the-field role with the Rockets. Ciccone will become the next Director of High School Relations, which was a position filled by John Kuceyeski in years past before his departure. The relationship between Candle and Ciccone goes way back to the Mount Union days, where Candle was a senior during Ciccone's freshman season. Following that year, Candle went on to work with the wide receivers for the next three seasons.

"I've known Jason for 15 years," Ciccone stated, "I went to Mount Union and played runningback there and the summer before my senior year I actually worked for Coach Candle taking care of athletics grounds and facilities. After I graduated in the spring of 2005, I became a student assistant."

Despite having an off-field role now with the Rockets, Ciccone has a background of being on the field for several different programs. Most recently, the now 32-year old Ciccone was runningbacks coach at Ohio Dominican but prior to that, spent time as co-offensive coordinator at Olentangy high school and at Bluffton University where he was wide receivers coach.

Andrew Terwilliger will also remain with the Rockets as Director of Player Personnel. Terwilliger has been with the Rockets for the past few seasons.

So yes, there are still questions lingering. Who takes over as quarterbacks coach and is that the same person that takes over as offensive coordinator? Will Ross Watson be in charge of linebackers or safeties? We will find out in the weeks to come. For now, the current staff is hitting the ground running with recruiting. In fact, there are several official visits scheduled for January 15 in Toledo.



Follow Zach on Twitter: @ToledoZach for the latest Toledo Athletics updates. A special thanks to WTOL's Jordan Strack for contributing to the research in the article.