Toledo and Appalachian State fans were eager to learn their bowl destination as the first week of December drew near.<\/p>\n
Head coaches Jason Candle and Scott Satterfield were just as eager, but each felt a little nervous as they realized their teams were on a collision course in the third annual Raycom Media Camellia Bowl.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout three weeks ago, when we found this out, we called each other and said, \u2018Hey, are we playing each other?\u2019 \u2018Yeah, we\u2019re playing each other,\u2019\u201d said Satterfield, the fourth-year coach at Appalachian State. \u201cSo that part of it is friendship but once we play, he\u2019s trying to win, I\u2019m trying to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a friendship that goes back to their days at Toledo in 2009. Candle, who had played and coached at Mount Union, was hired to coach receivers at Toledo by new coach Tim Beckham. Satterfield, who had played and coached at Appalachian State, was hired as a co-offensive coordinator in charge of the passing game.<\/p>\n
\u201cMatt Campbell and I were co-offensive coordinators there,\u201d Satterfield said. \u201cWe had an outstanding staff there, really worked well together. Jason is a really, really good football coach and I learned a lot from Matt, from him, from all the guys on the football staff. We\u2019ve kept in touch since I left and still talk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Satterfield would get an opportunity the next season to serve as offensive coordinator at Florida International, returning in 2012 to Appalachian State as the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator in Jerry Moore\u2019s final season with the Mountaineers.<\/p>\n
Candle, meanwhile, remained with the Rockets, rising to offensive coordinator in 2012 after Campbell became the head coach and to associate head coach in 2014.<\/p>\n
Despite the constant changes in their lives, Campbell, Candle and Satterfield stayed in touch, forming a bond in that one season at Toledo and the famous noon-time basketball games against the coaching staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cScott is a tremendous human being,\u201d Candle said. \u201cIn coaching, you always want to gravitate yourself to good people. He\u2019s got a great wife in Beth and three good kids in Bryce, Isaac and Alli. I don\u2019t know how old they are now but they were little ones when he was at Toledo with us. He is a good family man and someone who is well respected in our profession.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Campbell left to take the head coaching position at Iowa State and Candle was promoted to head coach of the Rockets, one of the first phone calls he made was to Satterfield. The former was preparing for his first game as a head coach in the GoDaddy Bowl and the latter was preparing for his first bowl game in the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the years, we\u2019ll talk some offensive and defensive schemes, that type of stuff, just in general terms,\u201d Satterfield said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he got the head coaching job last year, he called and we talked a little about when I got the job at App, kind of the things we did initially. We just bounce ideas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThroughout the season, we probably talk once or twice, but it\u2019s really just checking in. \u2018How are things going?\u2019 That kind of thing. Just friendly talk.\u201d<\/p>\n
The conversation must have worked. Candle\u2019s Toledo team defeated Arkansas State, while Satterfield\u2019s Mountaineers defeated Ohio.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe talk a lot about a lot of things,\u201d Candle said. \u201cUnfortunately, you can\u2019t go to Barnes and Noble and pick up a book and say here\u2019s how to be a Division I-A football coach. You\u2019ve got to try and use resources wisely and reach out to people that you know and trust, people that you respect, people that you know do it the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, as the bowl bids were being handed out, Louisiana-Lafayette was the choice of the New Orleans Bowl, which selected first, and Troy was the choice of the Dollar General Bowl, which selected second. That left Sun Belt co-champion Appalachian State as the best team still available for the Camellia Bowl staff and a 9-3 Mountaineer team was the perfect pairing for a 9-3 Toledo team.<\/p>\n
Like it or now, the two friends would be facing each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we\u2019re coming down to this deal and there\u2019s a chance you\u2019ve got to play each other, you don\u2019t like playing your friends because you still have to go out there and try to win the football game,\u201d Satterfield said.<\/p>\n
Candle, asked the same question, said it was more satisfying to beat your friends than your enemies.<\/p>\n
Satterfield, confronted with that response, laughed and revised his outlook.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s bragging rights for the rest of the time,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd, right now, I\u2019m 1-0 in bowl games against Coach Candle. I was at FIU (in 2010) when we played Toledo in the Little Caesar\u2019s Pizza Bowl (and won 34-32) so hopefully he won\u2019t even the score.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Toledo and Appalachian State fans were eager to learn their bowl destination as the first week of December drew near. Head coaches Jason Candle and Scott Satterfield were just as eager, but each felt a little nervous as they realized their teams were on a collision course in the third annual Raycom Media Camellia Bowl. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n