Citadel Selects a Winner
Coach Fresh from the NFL

August 2, 2005 – Coach Kevin Higgins graduated from West Chester University in Pennsylvania in 1977 and proceeded to make a career for himself in college and professional football. He served as assistant football coach at Gettysburg College, University of Richmond and then spent 13 years at Lehigh University, seven of these as head coach. Next he became an NFL coach with the Detroit Lions, serving four years as quarterback and wide receiver coach. His wife is a former collegiate coach and his son currently plays football for the University of Florida.

In his first few days at The Citadel he quickly realized how much more gratifying it is to work with young students who respond with a “yes, Sir” after several years of million dollar players challenging every direction given to them. The challenge he faces at The Citadel is to provide a sense of stability and continuity that has been disrupted by a parade of coaches in the past few years and to broaden the geographic area of recruitment. He does not feel that the program can find enough outstanding players in this state alone. He feels that there are teachable, potentially great players “out there” who can both profit from The Citadel education and make a contribution to the school.

Higgin’s primary goal is to keep the students in school and enable them to develop. He sees the college as a leadership laboratory where pride, leadership and discipline are the rules of the day. He looks to four broad areas of concentration for each player to have as his goal:

1. Every player must be results-oriented and seek to win. He will continually focus on winning the Southern Conference Championship.

2. Every player must be passionate about playing college football and truly love the game. Otherwise success will be difficult in an environment that stresses military drill, academics and leadership.

3. Every player must handle adversity for life has trials. The military mode of The Citadel will strengthen this ability.

4. Leaders (players) care about the people around them. Far too many people today care primarily about themselves.

Coach Higgins decried the trend in many communities for parents to wear pins with huge pin pictures of their sports playing children. “Not in my family”, he says. “It is not about me.” The Citadel has a long tradition of looking at the world as a big picture. He will strive to insure that his football players and students learn to see this concept. If they do, success in football and in the world will follow.

Reported by Fred Sales, Keyway Committee