Miami head coach Mario Cristobal had the less-than-ideal task of filling not one but two vacant coordinator jobs with spring ball fast approaching, but it sounds like he’s making headway on the offensive side of the football.

Nestled in a report from FootballScoop’s John Brice about the Notre Dame offensive coordinator search is a nugget about Cristobal’s timeline at Miami. According to Brice, Cristobal has verbally offered the job to Toledo head coach Jason Candle.

From Brice’s report:

Sources late Monday night indicated to FootballScoop that Candle remains a person of interest at both Miami, where Mario Cristobal is seeking a new play-caller for the Hurricanes after parting ways with Josh Gattis, and Notre Dame. Sources indicate to FootballScoop that Candle is mulling a verbal offer from the Hurricanes.

At the end of January, Miami officially parted ways with Josh Gattis after 1 season on Cristobal’s staff. The 2021 Broyles Award winner was unable to recreate in Miami the magic that helped lead Michigan to the College Football Playoff.

Interestingly enough, Candle was a person of interest for the Miami OC job a year ago this time as well. He was reported to be one of Cristobal’s top targets before choosing to remain at Toledo.

He just wrapped his 7th full season as head coach of the Rockets with a 9-5 record. Candle has a winning record in 6 of his 7 years at the helm. Toledo has averaged at least 30 points a game in 3 straight seasons and, in 2022, was well-balanced on the offensive side of the ball, throwing for 3,144 yards with 31 touchdowns and rushing for 2,487 yards with 23 scores.

The Hurricanes also reportedly came to an agreement with their next defensive coordinator on Tuesday.