page_title: Toledo Rockets football
section_title: Gary Pinkel era (1991–2000)
hierarchical_section_title: Toledo Rockets football / History / Gary Pinkel era (1991–2000)
caption_attribution_description: English: Missouri Tigers head coach Gary Pinkel at the 2008 Nevada game
context_page_description: The Toledo Rockets football team is a college football program in Division I FBS, representing the University of Toledo. The Rockets compete in the Mid-American Conference. Toledo began playing football in 1917, although it did not field teams in 1931, and 1943–1945. Since the inception of the AP Poll in 1936 Toledo has finished in the Top 25 four times. Its highest finish came in 1970 when it ranked #12 after finishing 12–0–0. The University of Toledo has a 10–7 record in bowl games. The Rockets were the 2017 MAC champions. The team's current head coach is Jason Candle.
context_section_description: Gary Pinkel came to Toledo from his post as offensive coordinator at Washington. With an overall record of 73–37–3, he has the most wins in UT history. He also has the second best winning percentage (.659) among UT coaches who led the program for at least four years.
  Pinkel led the 1995 Rockets to an 11–0–1 record, a Las Vegas Bowl victory, and end of season rankings in the Top 25 of both the AP poll and Coaches poll. In 1997, Pinkel's Rockets took the first-ever MAC West title and appeared in the MAC Championship game. The Rockets finished the season 9–3, with a mid-season ranking high of 18 in the AP poll. They repeated at MAC West champions in the following 1998 season.
  In Pinkel's final season in 2000, the Rockets went 10-1, including a 24-6 victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions and a 25th place ranking in the final regular season polls. Following that season, Pinkel took a head coaching position at Missouri. He's been inducted into three college football hall of fames: Toledo, Kent State (his alma mater), and the Mid-American Conference.
caption: Coach Pinkel
exif: {"Image Make": "PENTAX Corporation", "Image Model": "PENTAX K10D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Paint.NET v3.36", "Image DateTime": "2008:10:28 10:44:06", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "334", "Image CustomRendered": "Normal", "Image ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "Image WhiteBalance": "Auto", "Image FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "450", "Image SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "Image Contrast": "Normal", "Image Saturation": "Normal", "Image Sharpness": "Normal", "Image SubjectDistanceRange": "3", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "740", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4009", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1000", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Shutter Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:09:13 13:17:13", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:09:13 13:17:13", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "300", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2592", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3872", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed"}