Head Coach: Jason Candle is entering his 10th season as the head coach of the Rockets with a 73-40 record. He’s obtained a level of consistency that isn’t often seen in the MAC. Candle has 2 MAC championships and another conference title appearance to his resume along with 3 bowl wins and some wins over larger programs. Toledo is always a threat to win the MAC under his watch.
Program Outlook: Toledo is in a unique position compared to the rest of the MAC. They are in a city that is large enough to give a lot of support to the program but it also isn’t too big where there’s other teams around to distract the area from the Rockets, truly its advantageous in this new NIL era. Even before NIL, Toledo carried such remarkable consistency that they are the standard in the MAC, the Rockets have now gone 15 years without a losing season, something not many programs can claim.
How does the 2025 Roster look?: Toledo ranks 42nd in the country returning 60.5% of their production per Punt and Rally’s returning production rankings. This puts them 2nd in the conference behind Buffalo. Key players starts with the QB Tucker Gleason is in his 2nd year as the starter, he has all the tools needed to succeed and he was a great QB for the Rockets last year. The key for Gleason’s improvement this year is cutting back on the mistakes, do that and he’s one of the better QBs in the country. He’s got his guy to throw to in Junior Vandeross III, a good year will likely get him drafted in the NFL. That’s not all, they somehow landed Trayvon Rudolph who has been NIU’s top receiver, I can’t state enough how big of a pickup this is. Toledo is usually strong on the Oline and they were great in pass protection last year, there’s experience back here to keep that going but the run game vanished. We’ll soon find out if the backs were the issue because they got a nice pickup in RB Chip Trayanum (Arizona State via Ohio State) and Kenji Christian (NC A&T) will be a factor as well. On defense Toledo will be led by their secondary this unit is going to be a PROBLEM for everyone in their path. Corners Avery Smith and Nasir Bowers are two of the best in the MAC, while safeties Brandon Awls and Emmanuel McNeil-Warren are both extremely talented, at least one of not more of these players will end up in the NFL. The defensive line always tends to carry a strong rotation, Darius Alexander was yet another Toledo player that got drafted and will be tough to replace but for the most part it’s next man up for this unit. That being said, Anthony Dunn Jr seems primed to be the line’s next star. Linebacker was the one concern for this team which is why they hit the portal for some help there.
Screenshot from FBSchedules.com
2025 Schedule Thoughts: Toledo’s schedule is very good. The non-conference carries lots of opportunity with the Rockets facing Kentucky, Western Kentucky and Washington State. While Morgan State is a FCS foe coming off a 6-6 season. The MAC slate is very favorable because the Rockets avoid both Ohio and Buffalo. The Battle of I-75 and at Miami are likely the toughest conference road games. Overall there isn’t a surefire loss on this schedule.
Final Thoughts: Toledo, this is your opportunity. The Rockets have a loaded roster this year and they really can make a run at the College Football Playoff. Consistency will be a big key, the Rockets were all over the place last year. The run game is where they need to find it, if they can reliably run the ball it will give them more control over games and put less pressure on Gleason.
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