March 24, 2005
Charleston, SC -
The Citadel Director of Athletics Les Robinson with the approval of Citadel president Major General John S. Grinalds (USMC ret.), announced Thursday afternoon that former Detroit Lions quarterbacks and wide receivers coach Kevin Higgins has been named The Citadel's 23rd head football coach.
Higgins, who served as the quarterbacks coach for his first three years with the Lions, was responsible for the tutoring and developing of Detroit's first-round draft pick quarterback Joey Harrington. This past season he assumed the position of wide receivers coach and was responsible for the development of one of the most exciting trios of wide outs in the NFL: Az-Zahir Hakim, Charles Rogers and Roy Williams. Higgins coached Roy Williams to set Lions single season records for a rookie in receptions (54), receiving yards (817) and touchdowns (8).
Before joining the NFL ranks, Higgins was one of the hottest coaches in Division I-AA football at Lehigh where he led the Mountain Hawks to three straight NCAA playoff appearances. The Higgins' led team lost only one regular season game in his final three seasons and posted a 32-1 record during that time. During his tenure, Lehigh defeated Richmond and Western Illinois in the playoffs and posted regular season wins over I-AA powers Wofford and Delaware.
The West Chester graduate posted an overall record of 56-25-1 (30-9 in Patriot League play) during his seven seasons atop the Mountain Hawks gridiron program. He led Lehigh to four Patriot League Championships (1995, 1998, 1999 and 2000) and was named Patriot League Coach of the Year three times (1995, 1998 and 2000). In 1999 and 2000 he was a candidate for the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year award.
In 2000, Higgins helped Lehigh accrue its second undefeated regular season (11-0) in three years and its third-straight league title. The team ended the season 12-1 after being defeated by Delaware in the quarterfinals of the Division I-AA playoffs. In 1999, Lehigh was 10-1 and earned an at-large postseason bid after being Co-Patriot League champions and ranked 14th nationally. He also was named GTE Regional Coach of the Year in '99. The previous season, Lehigh completed its first undefeated regular season (11-0) under Higgins, and defeated third-ranked Richmond in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to Massachusetts, who went on to win the national championship.
Under Higgins' tutelage, Lehigh developed into one of the premier passing offenses in the country, and topped the Patriot League in passing offense during five of his last seven years. Three former players, Rabih Abdullah (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Lehigh's all-time leading rusher, Rich Owens (Kansas City Chiefs) and Phil Stambaugh (Jacksonville Jaguars) played in the NFL in 2001.
During the summers of 1996-97, Higgins did an internship with the Philadelphia Eagles who held their training camp on the Lehigh University campus. It was there that he studied under the tutelage of current Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden learning the intricacies of the West Coast offense.
Prior to his arrival in Bethlehem, Higgins was an assistant coach at the University of Richmond from 1985-87, after beginning his collegiate coaching career at Gettysburg (Pa.) College from 1981-84. Before jumping into the college ranks, he worked as a head basketball and baseball coach, and was an assistant football coach at North Warren (N.J.) High School from 1979-80. He was also the head basketball coach and assistant football coach at Emerson (N.J.) High School from 1977-78.
A native of Emerson, N.J., Higgins attended Emerson High School where he was captain of the football, basketball and baseball teams during his senior year. He was recently inducted into the Emerson High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Higgins a 1977 graduate of West Chester (Pa.) University earned a bachelor's degree in health and physical education, and played free safety on the school's football squad and was the team's most valuable defensive back. In 1981, he earned a master's degree in physical education from East Stroudsburg (Pa.) University.
Higgins and his wife, Kay, a former collegiate head basketball coach, have three children, Tim, Meaghan and Katie Rose.
Higgins' Coaching Background
Detroit Lions 2001-04
Wide Receivers 2004
Quarterbacks 2001-03
Lehigh 1988-00
Head Coach/Quarterbacks 1994-00
Assistant Head Coach 1988-93
Richmond 1985-87
Assistant Coach 1985-87
Gettysburg College 1981-84
Assistant Coach 1981-84
North Warren (N.J.) H.S. 1979-80
Assistant Coach 1979-80
Emerson (N.J.) H.S. 1977-78
Assistant Coach 1977-78
Quotes from The Citadel Press Conference Hiring Coach Kevin Higgins
Major General John Grinalds, USMC Ret., President of The Citadel
"Kevin Higgins is the right coach at the right time for Citadel football. He understands The Citadel's interest in having a team that will make alumni proud -- not only for the way they play in Johnson Hagood Stadium but also for the way the players conduct themselves as cadet-student- athletes."
"I share the excitement of the team, the Corps and The Citadel family for the leadership that Kevin Higgins will bring to our football program."
Les Robinson, Director of Athletics
On the hiring of Kevin Higgins as The Citadel's 23rd head football coach
"I am extremely confident in the man we have hired. It is my opinion he is the best available college head coach in the country. I feel comfortable and great about the person we hired."
On the hiring process
"Of the five coaching searches I have gone through, this has been the most thorough search that I have been involved with. The vacancy caught us off guard, so I was not prepared to fill it immediately causing us to be very comprehensive with the entire process."
"We had more candidates due to the time of the vacancy, but we also had many former head coaches with good credentials that were interested in the job."
On Higgins
"He [Kevin] is very well aware of this institutions' goals. He is a man that feels leadership is an important value in a young man's life and he is aware of this institution's military system and its academic goals."
Kevin Higgins, Head Football Coach, The Citadel
On being the 23rd head football coach at The Citadel
"It is certainly a privilege and a real honor being hired as the head football coach at The Citadel."
On The Citadel
"The Citadel had exactly what I was looking for in its academics, history and football are all a very important part of the institution. Discipline is very important to football success. What greater place to coach at than at a military school where discipline is stressed."
On returning to the college game
"When I went to the NFL I had a chance to work with great coaches, but when I stepped into the Silver Dome for the first time I knew I would coach in college again."
On his vision
"The vision I will present to our players is that we want to win the Southern Conference Championship. Charlie Taaffe did it in 1992 and it hasn't been done since, but everyday at practice we will point to that and it will happen again."
"I want our players to be passionate. Passionate about the military, passionate about academics, but when they are done with drills and studying, I want them to be passionate about football."
"Every player on the roster has to be important, from the quarterback that is winning games for you to the last walk on that made the team. I want to know the story of every guy that walks through our locker room and I want to influence him to be the best that he can."
