Craig Candeto is seen during his finest moment playing for Navy, the 2002 Army-Navy game.
Former Navy quarterback Craig Candeto, one of three former Midshipmen to land on Paul Johnson’s Georgia Tech coaching staff this offseason, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution yesterday that he hopes to one day become a BCS head coach and, later, a TV analyst.
Candeto, who graduated from the Naval Academy in 2004 and served as an F/A-18 pilot before leaving the service, joined former Mids Joe Speed and Lamar Owens on Georgia Tech’s staff. Owens, a quarterback under Johnson while at Navy, has been a graduate assistant the past two years at GT, while Speed had coached the last eight years at Navy.
A disability, which Candeto did not elaborate on in the article, ended his days as an F/A-18 pilot. He applied for and received an early discharge from the Navy and began his search for a coaching job. Austin Peay hired him as a graduate assistant last season, and Johnson — who coached at Navy from 2002-2007 — brought him aboard at Tech in January.
“This is a great opportunity,” Candeto told the AJC. “Being with coach Johnson again. He’s someone I’ve respected from day one. I’m learning from one of the best.”
Candeto is one of the more beloved players in Navy’s recent history. During his third year at the academy, he started Navy’s current eight-game winning streak over Army by running for six touchdowns and throwing for another in a 58-12 blowout in the 2002 Army-Navy game. The next year Candeto helped propel Navy to another win over Army and the program’s first bowl game in seven years.
