Two more hires are on their way to Storrs and both have connections to Toledo.
New University of Connecticut football coach Jason Candle continues to fill out his 2026 coaching staff.
Candle, who took over for recently-departed head coach Jim Mora, has already hired Nunzio Campanile as the team's offensive coordinator and Ryan Manalac as the defensive coordinator.
Both hires had experience with Candle at Toledo.
About Blackwell
He spent three years as a player at South Florida, throwing for 7,488 yards as a quarterback. He tossed 51 touchdowns vs. 18 interceptions and also ran for 1,109 yards and 17 touchdowns. He played from 2000-02.
As a coach, he most recently served as the running backs coach at South Carolina, though he was fired earlier this month. He's also coached at Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Houston. He spent the 2018 season at West Virginia and was the running backs coach for Candle at Toledo (2016-17). Toledo went 20-7 in those two seasons.
He coached Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt while with the Rockets.
About Cashmore
Cashmore was a former college football player at Drake University in Indiana, where he helped them win a Pioneer League championship in 2011.
He's coached at Midland University, Oklahoma State, Toledo, Pittsburgh State (Kansas), South Dakota State and Washington State. He most recently was the special teams coordinator for the Cougars.
He was with Candle at Toledo in 2016-17 as well, serving as a special teams quality control coach.
More UConn stories
What's next for UConn football?
--Candle will continue to fill out his staff, but he'll also have to deal with the transfer portal, which opens up this week. Because of the coaching changeover, you can expect much movement on that front - both in terms of additions and subtractions.
--The Huskies might also have to deal with changes to their 2026 schedule as a result of a new policy set forward by the Atlantic Coast Conference.
--UConn went 9-4 this season, dropping the Fenway Bowl against Army on Saturday afternoon.
Also on campus
--The UConn men's basketball team, currently 11-1, will resume Big East play on Wednesday night against Xavier. The Huskies are 2-0 inside league play after beating Butler and DePaul. The game will be played in Cincinnati, Ohio, and will begin at 5 p.m. ET. That's New Years Eve, for those planning around the Huskies game.
--The UConn women ran their Big East win streak to 51 games on Sunday afternoon with a drubbing of Butler.
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