As first mentioned here on MinerRush back on December 8th, Patrick Higgins has been named the Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks coach for the UTEP Miners under new head coach Sean Kugler.
Higgins' football story begins at William Penn University in 1982 where he played both quarterback and defensive back. After graduating with both a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry and a Master's in Exercise Physiology, he moved back to the football field as the wide receivers coach at St. Cloud State.
After his time at St. Cloud, Higgins moved on to Quincy University where he spent time as both an offensive coordinator (1990) and defensive coordinator (1991).
In 1992, he was named the head coach at his Alma Mater, William Penn University, but he would only stay there a year as he then moved to Savannah, GA to take over the head duties at St. Andrews Prep.
Following his stay at St. Andews, Higgins took over the offensive coordinator/special teams duties at division II Shepherd College from 1993-1996.
In 1997, he took over as running backs coach at Columbia University, and then made his way to El Paso 1998 where he served as a quarterbacks and wide receivers coach before eventually taking over the offensive coordinator duties in 2000. Higgins stayed with UTEP from 1998-2003 under coaches Charlie Bailey and Gary Nord.
After his stint at UTEP, Higgins spent a year at Louisiana Tech coaching tight ends, and then six years at BYU coaching wide receivers and special teams.
In 2011, Higgins was hired as the wide receivers coach at Purdue, and was reunited with former Miner head coach Gary Nord. After the firing of the Boilermaker head coach, and due to an illness of coach Nord, Higgins was named the interim head coach of Purdue for the remainder of the 2012 season.
Coach Kugler had this to say about Higgins:
"I had the opportunity to work with coach Higgins here at UTEP...I have known him for a long time. I can't think of a more detailed, organized coach to be our offensive coordinator. He has had a lot of great experience even since he's left UTEP...He has been a head coach, a coordinator and a special teams coordinator. I have seen his work ethic up close and I'm excited to have him on board. He will do a great job."
Higgins seems like another great choice by Kugler. He's been around the block a couple of times, and even has ties to UTEP. He's spent time under some great offensive minds, and should able to do well here with the Miners. It'll be interesting to see what this offense looks like in the coming years.