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Briggs: Ford was Candle's first decommit at Toledo. 8 years later, no Rocket is more committed

At the end of his whirlwind first day as the new University of Toledo football coach, Jason Candle sat down to dinner with his wife, Nicole.

They had finally stolen a moment to celebrate the good tidings.

Then the phone rang.

It was Zachary Ford, a high school defensive back from Cleveland and a UT commit. He wanted to say hi … and bye.

“He’s telling me he’s going to decommit and go somewhere else,” Candle said. “I got a head coaching job and lost a recruit all in the same day.”

Eight years later, the coach and player smiled at the memory.