Lehigh Fans give me the skinny on Higgins

[citdog]

What kind of Coach is Kevin Higgins? Do you think he can be successful at The Citadel? Can he recruit? LOVE the new format and look forward to the season. GO DOGS!

[colgate13]

I'll concur. The Citadel got themselves a great coach. If you support him (and I have no doubt that you will) he will be successful. If he can't win, well, I don't know who could at El Cid.

[Engineer91]

Higgins seemed to be masterful at halftime adjustments and getting the most out of the players he had. At Lehigh he was not shy about changing up the offence to catch the defence offguard (like the Vegas he pulled out on WIU).

[WCU LawCat]

Does this all mean we have to start worrying about the Citadel now. We have enough to worry about in the SoCon.

Then again not worrying about The Citadel last season got us beat. We were still drinking from "The Jug." :cool:

[ngineer]

Higgins should be a godsend. He could have stayed at Lehigh for life, and, in fact, said that only the unique challenge of going to the NFL was something he could not pass up. He really turned around the program by recognizing that championships are won with defense and began putting some of our best athletes on 'D'. Previously, Lehigh was pass happy and put up a lot of points, but also gave up a lot. He kept the pro-style offense, however, and the points remained and the defense became a top one. He's a motivator and demands that his players be students and good citizens. He's a top notch person. If he can't win at the Citadel, no one can. You should give him some time, though, he got a late start this year and will need help recruiting in the South where is in 'foreign' territory. He'll need a lot of staff support for that.

[Pard94]

As Lehigh's archrival I can tell you the Leopards HATED Higgins (cause he beat us regularly). Just glad Lehigh didn't get him back. You guys are getting a good one. Potentially a great one. Good riddance Kevin Higgins!

[heath]

What you think now citdog? Looking at his record not sure you got what you wantedxsmhx

[RichH2]

Kevin is an excellent recruiter. I recruited NJ with him when he was on Hank's staff. One of the nicest men you'll ever know and an excellent coach. His record at LU was no fluke. No schollies back then yet he brought n a number of superb players even with our academic standards. The fault may lie with the nature of Citadel in todays world.Citadel has an even smaller poolof kid to recruit than PL schools IMO. But it did take Kevin 4 yrs to build a winner. Dont give up .

[Lehigh'98]

I have nothing but respect for him. He started in 95 my Fr yr and I was in his first recruiting class. He surrounded himself with great coaches. Coen, Lembo, Cecchini & Bott. He was an intense guy and would often jump I'm drills himself. We went through 2 mediocre seasons while he got his players in, then went 12-1 losing to NC UMass I'm the last minutes in 98. We went from an all offense team to a balanced attack in 98 with very talented players. He didn't tolerate any misbehavior and really pulled us together. The next 3 seasons Lehigh was exceptional. Not sure if he can get the same type of Supporting cast at Citadel,
But I would give him every benefit of the doubt. He was without a doubt the catalyst for turning a Lehigh around.

[Go...gate]

The man is a winner. The Citadel has a great coach.

[Bill]

2005....wow, has it really been 7+ years already? I always wish Coach the best. He recruited me, was my position coach (briefly) and helped me when I started coaching. Can't say enough good things!

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

2005....wow, has it really been 7+ years already? I always wish Coach the best. He recruited me, was my position coach (briefly) and helped me when I started coaching. Can't say enough good things!

Higgins left after the 2000 season. Lembo headed to Elon after 2005.

[Bill]

TU Owl - I meant has it been 7+ years since Higgins went to the Citadel! I'm pretty sure he started there in 2005...

[CID1990]

What you think now citdog? Looking at his record not sure you got what you wantedxsmhx

The jury is out on Higgins, but one thing is for sure- he does not have the right supporting cast on the sidelines with him.

[walliver]

Higgins has stabilized the program (no more 5th year transfer QB's), but his teams have been erratic. Last year's team beat 2 of the 3 SoCon champions, but lost to much lesser opponents. This year's performance is a head-scratcher.

Recruiting and retention will always be an issue at The Citadel because it is what it is (although they are trying to make it more LGBT friendly (http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20130926/PC16/130929534/1009/citadel-offers-safe-zone-training-to-raise-awareness-and-safety-for-lgbt-students-faculty-and-staff&source=RSS)). Any replacement coach would face the same issues. Switching back to the option was a good decision, and the Citadel would do best to stick with it.

[CID1990]

Higgins has stabilized the program (no more 5th year transfer QB's), but his teams have been erratic. Last year's team beat 2 of the 3 SoCon champions, but lost to much lesser opponents. This year's performance is a head-scratcher.

Recruiting and retention will always be an issue at The Citadel because it is what it is (although they are trying to make it more LGBT friendly (http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20130926/PC16/130929534/1009/citadel-offers-safe-zone-training-to-raise-awareness-and-safety-for-lgbt-students-faculty-and-staff&source=RSS)). Any replacement coach would face the same issues. Switching back to the option was a good decision, and the Citadel would do best to stick with it.

You are dead spot on about the transfers. That crap drove me absolutely crazy, and it was a grad that was doing it, too. Just trying to pad his resume to get back to FBS (and it worked for him).

We do also shoot ourselves in the foot (like kicking our All America center out of school... there are other examples) but that is the nature of our particular beast. I wouldn't want us to relax our standards just to win football games, plus that would be a killer for morale in the Corps. So there it is.

Right now our OC and DC need to be feeling the heat, big time. One center does not a team make. Missing our middle linebacker/leader/lead tackler hurts, but it should not have turned our D into the sieve that it is. The most frustrating thing is that we definitely have the talent to beat anyone in the conference, but like Chattown should have learned long ago, talent means absolutely nothing without character, leadership, and preparedness.

To quote Chal Port (posted on our message board earlier today), "Now it's a battle of the piss-ants." right now I just hope these kids can salvage some pride and win one or two before the offseason housecleaning begins.