Thursday, March 30, 2006

Hackensack, N.J. - The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., has become a haven for football coaches from Bergen County.

Emerson native Kevin Higgins is in his second year as head coach and he's hired Chris Partridge and Aashon Larkins, who grew up in Hackensack, as assistant coaches.

Partridge played at Paramus Catholic and Larkins at Hackensack, where they were rivals, and they went on to play against each other in college. Partridge played at Lafayette and Larkins played at Lehigh for Higgins, who was the head coach there from 1994-2001.

Higgins was an assistant coach for the Detroit Lions for three years before taking The Citadel job. Partridge returned home after college and was on the staff at Paramus Catholic for two years before he was hired by Lafayette last season. Larkins had coaching stints at Holy Cross and Wagner.

At The Citadel, Partridge is the defensive line coach and Larkins coaches defensive backs. Partridge is the lead recruiter in New Jersey, where Higgins hopes to recruit players.

He'll need them. Coming off a 4-7 season, The Citadel's first game is at Texas A&M and it later plays at Pittsburgh.