December 8, 2025 • 8 mins
The AD meets the media after Jason Candle's introductory press conference Monday at Pratt & Whitney Stadium
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Look, I think it's a I think it's a great question.
And obviously I'm not sure what college athletics athletics looks like,
you know, a week from now, let alone five years
from now. But you know, I'm sure not Unlike when
you know coach or Emma or or coach Calvioun showed up.
(00:20):
You know, they had a drision, a vision, and a
dream of what could be. And I still believe that
we can accomplish anything we want to, and that means
ultimately containing at the highest level whatever that winds up
being at whatever time that is. I couldn't tell you
what that's going to look like. Obviously there's a lot
going on in college athletics these days in Portruary football,
(00:43):
but we want to we want to continue to put
ourselves in a position each year so that people appreciate
our abuild and compete with whoever we're going to be with.
And certainly, you know coach Mora and the staff and
the student athletes, they've done that for the last two years.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
What led you to coach Candle initially, I mean, there's
so many coaches out there. What made you zoom in
on him?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Well, I place a really high value on head coaching experience.
I think, you know, to have a demonstrated track record
of success as a head coach over a decade is
something that separated him as we looked at all the
different types of candidates, and you know, I think when
(01:33):
you have the opportunity to do a search like this,
especially at a place like Yukon, and as coach mentioned,
coming off of the success that we've had the last
two years, you have a lot of people that are interested.
But ultimately, you know, one of one of the main
criteria would be if you can find someone that has
(01:54):
a demonstrated track record of success as a head coach
and managing the perplexities that comes with you know, a
very large organization. That that's something that obviously was you know,
a huge check mark for him. You know, lots of
other things. I mean, the facts that he's never had
(02:15):
a losing season as a head coach. I love the
fact that he has an offensive mind. His offenses are
typically rated very high, but he had one of the
best defenses in the country this year. And so if
you really get into the analytics, if you get into
the personal relationships that he has around the country, the network,
(02:35):
the people that you talk to about Coach Candle, you know,
all of it comes back aces. So we're just very
fortunate that we could attract someone like that to you.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Come and talking with coach Candle, you know, what was
your sense of what he was valuing, what he was
looking for, you know, from a school from an attention
of job. Obviously, coach cares about stuff like what's the
nil support, what's the conference you know, situation what you know,
what kind of what did those conversations go like and
how they improved our les school years?
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yeah, I think I think it's it's all the obvious
stuff that that you you noted, but you know, he
he he places, as do we a high premium on people,
you know, And I was very happy that we were
able to get both he and Nicole to Connecticut so
that they could visit and interact with some of our people,
(03:28):
because I believe we have as good as people that
that that surround this university and all different types of
capacities and that want this university, this athletics program, and
in particular our football program to thrive. And so I
think that had a major impact on him when he visited.
(03:48):
This could be asked of just about any athletic director
in the country right now.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
But what does it take to make Yukon some more
people stay? Not as topics don't make it a destination.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
What are you finding right now?
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Well, I think you know, if you look at our
head coaches, there's a lot of people that have stayed.
And so I don't necessarily agree with the notion that,
you know, Yukon is a stepping stone. You know, there's
been transitions, they'll continue to be transitions. But we've had
(04:22):
some of our most successful coaches over the course of
you know, forty one years now that have never left.
We've got you know, you look across the board. We
had soccer coaches and Ray Reid, you know, we had
coach Calhoun, we have Jim Penders, you have Mike Cavanaugh.
All of these people have had opportunities to leave, but
they chose to stay. And so there is something about
(04:46):
Yukon that people choose to stay.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
That play into you wanted to be a guy that
had been at one place for for ten plus years.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
No, I don't think you'd go into that's certainly not
a criteria, but I think it speaks to loyalty. I
think it speaks to commitment, and so that was just
another you know, when you when you start looking at
all these different qualities and data points, you you begin
to build a picture of somebody. And certainly that's something
(05:17):
that you know you have to have an appreciation for
because that's not necessarily typical anymore. And so when someone
who I'm sure Jason has had other opportunities i know
he has over the course of you know, the last
you know, several years, you you value that divin.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Jim obviously brought a lot of NFL experience to the
job when you hired him. Did you start out with
any notion of trying to find someone else with that
kind of pedigree or did you feel like that, you know,
we're not going to find someone like that again, so
let's go this.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Rom No, I didn't. I didn't start out the search
thinking that, hey, we are we aren't going to to
find anybody. You just don't know. You certainly should have
an idea of maybe some people that you want to
begin to visit with, but you just don't know who's
gonna come and bubble up to the surface. And I
(06:15):
think the value of the NFL piece was very important,
and I think it really assisted our program, and coach
Moore did a great job of leveraging you know, his network,
his relationships, and his understanding of the NFL, both in
developing players and being able to communicate and recruit players,
but also with the change in transfer portal slash raids.
(06:42):
So you know, that was something that was on the list,
but it wasn't the top thing on the list. I
think the one thing that coach Candell mentioned. I mean
he's been developing pros. He's been identifying individuals, developing pros
and consistently having kids drafted, and those kids are staying
at his program, so that that certainly is something that's
(07:06):
going to be important to our current team as well
as future prospects.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
How much of the state did you cover when you
took him around?
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Where did you take him? Oh? Well, I mean it
was it was primarily from West Hartford, you know, to
campus and all around. So you know, we did as
much as we could in a in a relatively short
condensed period of time. But I thought it was important
to to try to get them to see as much
(07:34):
as they possibly could.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Did he meet with Dan face to face or was
it a fun conversation?
Speaker 1 (07:41):
I know, they communicated, but you know, coach was getting
ready for a game the next day, so we weren't
able to make that happen. Yeah, yeah, they they've communicated.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
What was it about candlel You mentioned the offensive background,
his style when you're when you're looking into that, what
did you like about what you saw from his offense?
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Well, I think it's not so much, you know, looking
at his offenses, it's looking at the data analytics and
what the analytics say. And the analytics say that they
are producing a lot of yards offensively. I don't remember
saying if it's four hundred and forty yards of offense
on average over the course of his ten years, you know,
(08:22):
he's producing points higher than the national average on a
consistent basis. And so when you begin he looks you know,
he talks about being balanced, you know, run and throw.
So I think when you put all of those things
together over not just a short period of time, but
over ten years and then even prior to that, as
(08:44):
an offensive coordinator, you have a long, you know, demonstrated
track record that you can count on the fact that
you know this is going to replicate itself.
Look, I think it's a I think it's a great question.
And obviously I'm not sure what college athletics athletics looks like,
you know, a week from now, let alone five years
from now. But you know, I'm sure not Unlike when
you know coach or Emma or or coach Calvioun showed up.
(00:20):
You know, they had a drision, a vision, and a
dream of what could be. And I still believe that
we can accomplish anything we want to, and that means
ultimately containing at the highest level whatever that winds up
being at whatever time that is. I couldn't tell you
what that's going to look like. Obviously there's a lot
going on in college athletics these days in Portruary football,
(00:43):
but we want to we want to continue to put
ourselves in a position each year so that people appreciate
our abuild and compete with whoever we're going to be with.
And certainly, you know coach Mora and the staff and
the student athletes, they've done that for the last two years.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
What led you to coach Candle initially, I mean, there's
so many coaches out there. What made you zoom in
on him?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Well, I place a really high value on head coaching experience.
I think, you know, to have a demonstrated track record
of success as a head coach over a decade is
something that separated him as we looked at all the
different types of candidates, and you know, I think when
(01:33):
you have the opportunity to do a search like this,
especially at a place like Yukon, and as coach mentioned,
coming off of the success that we've had the last
two years, you have a lot of people that are interested.
But ultimately, you know, one of one of the main
criteria would be if you can find someone that has
(01:54):
a demonstrated track record of success as a head coach
and managing the perplexities that comes with you know, a
very large organization. That that's something that obviously was you know,
a huge check mark for him. You know, lots of
other things. I mean, the facts that he's never had
(02:15):
a losing season as a head coach. I love the
fact that he has an offensive mind. His offenses are
typically rated very high, but he had one of the
best defenses in the country this year. And so if
you really get into the analytics, if you get into
the personal relationships that he has around the country, the network,
(02:35):
the people that you talk to about Coach Candle, you know,
all of it comes back aces. So we're just very
fortunate that we could attract someone like that to you.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Come and talking with coach Candle, you know, what was
your sense of what he was valuing, what he was
looking for, you know, from a school from an attention
of job. Obviously, coach cares about stuff like what's the
nil support, what's the conference you know, situation what you know,
what kind of what did those conversations go like and
how they improved our les school years?
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yeah, I think I think it's it's all the obvious
stuff that that you you noted, but you know, he
he he places, as do we a high premium on people,
you know, And I was very happy that we were
able to get both he and Nicole to Connecticut so
that they could visit and interact with some of our people,
(03:28):
because I believe we have as good as people that
that that surround this university and all different types of
capacities and that want this university, this athletics program, and
in particular our football program to thrive. And so I
think that had a major impact on him when he visited.
(03:48):
This could be asked of just about any athletic director
in the country right now.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
But what does it take to make Yukon some more
people stay? Not as topics don't make it a destination.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
What are you finding right now?
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Well, I think you know, if you look at our
head coaches, there's a lot of people that have stayed.
And so I don't necessarily agree with the notion that,
you know, Yukon is a stepping stone. You know, there's
been transitions, they'll continue to be transitions. But we've had
(04:22):
some of our most successful coaches over the course of
you know, forty one years now that have never left.
We've got you know, you look across the board. We
had soccer coaches and Ray Reid, you know, we had
coach Calhoun, we have Jim Penders, you have Mike Cavanaugh.
All of these people have had opportunities to leave, but
they chose to stay. And so there is something about
(04:46):
Yukon that people choose to stay.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
That play into you wanted to be a guy that
had been at one place for for ten plus years.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
No, I don't think you'd go into that's certainly not
a criteria, but I think it speaks to loyalty. I
think it speaks to commitment, and so that was just
another you know, when you when you start looking at
all these different qualities and data points, you you begin
to build a picture of somebody. And certainly that's something
(05:17):
that you know you have to have an appreciation for
because that's not necessarily typical anymore. And so when someone
who I'm sure Jason has had other opportunities i know
he has over the course of you know, the last
you know, several years, you you value that divin.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Jim obviously brought a lot of NFL experience to the
job when you hired him. Did you start out with
any notion of trying to find someone else with that
kind of pedigree or did you feel like that, you know,
we're not going to find someone like that again, so
let's go this.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Rom No, I didn't. I didn't start out the search
thinking that, hey, we are we aren't going to to
find anybody. You just don't know. You certainly should have
an idea of maybe some people that you want to
begin to visit with, but you just don't know who's
gonna come and bubble up to the surface. And I
(06:15):
think the value of the NFL piece was very important,
and I think it really assisted our program, and coach
Moore did a great job of leveraging you know, his network,
his relationships, and his understanding of the NFL, both in
developing players and being able to communicate and recruit players,
but also with the change in transfer portal slash raids.
(06:42):
So you know, that was something that was on the list,
but it wasn't the top thing on the list. I
think the one thing that coach Candell mentioned. I mean
he's been developing pros. He's been identifying individuals, developing pros
and consistently having kids drafted, and those kids are staying
at his program, so that that certainly is something that's
(07:06):
going to be important to our current team as well
as future prospects.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
How much of the state did you cover when you
took him around?
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Where did you take him? Oh? Well, I mean it
was it was primarily from West Hartford, you know, to
campus and all around. So you know, we did as
much as we could in a in a relatively short
condensed period of time. But I thought it was important
to to try to get them to see as much
(07:34):
as they possibly could.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Did he meet with Dan face to face or was
it a fun conversation?
Speaker 1 (07:41):
I know, they communicated, but you know, coach was getting
ready for a game the next day, so we weren't
able to make that happen. Yeah, yeah, they they've communicated.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
What was it about candlel You mentioned the offensive background,
his style when you're when you're looking into that, what
did you like about what you saw from his offense?
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Well, I think it's not so much, you know, looking
at his offenses, it's looking at the data analytics and
what the analytics say. And the analytics say that they
are producing a lot of yards offensively. I don't remember
saying if it's four hundred and forty yards of offense
on average over the course of his ten years, you know,
(08:22):
he's producing points higher than the national average on a
consistent basis. And so when you begin he looks you know,
he talks about being balanced, you know, run and throw.
So I think when you put all of those things
together over not just a short period of time, but
over ten years and then even prior to that, as
(08:44):
an offensive coordinator, you have a long, you know, demonstrated
track record that you can count on the fact that
you know this is going to replicate itself.
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