Higgins previously served as the head football coach at Northwestern Oklahoma State University from 2000 to 2004.

His Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers finished as runners-up in the NAIA Football National Championship in 2000 and 2003.

[4] After graduating high school in 1987, Higgins attended Emporia State University, where he was the quarterback for the football team.

[5] While at Emporia State, Higgins helped lead the team to the 1989 NAIA championship game where they lost to Carson–Newman.

[17] On December 14, 2006, Higgins was introduced as the 24th head football coach of Emporia State University,[18] replacing Dave Wiemers who resigned after three consecutive losing seasons.

[20] Higgins led the Hornets to their first 3–0 season since 2003, but that quickly ended once they began conference play losing their final eight games.

[23] During his third year as head coach of the Hornets, Higgins led his team to the program's lowest overall winning record since 1980 – 2–8.

[27] The Hornets started the season off strong winning their first eight games – the program's first since 1988[28] – earning them national rankings as well for the first time since 2003.

[30] Quarterback Tyler Eckenrode finished his career at Emporia State with school records and as a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy.

[31] After a successful season and losing a record-breaking quarterback,[32] the Hornets were chosen to finish in seventh place in the MIAA preseason polls.

The Hornets started the season 6–0, scoring 38+ points in the first five games, and quickly regained their national rankings after being unranked for a year.

The Hornets once again returned to the NCAA playoffs winning the first two games, and falling to Northwest Missouri State in the third round.

Higgins selected a redshirt sophomore who had played in during his freshman year when both Wilson and the back-up quarterback were injured.

[56] This was the third straight winning season for the Hornets and first time the program didn't make a post-season appearance since 2014.

The Hornets received their chance to defeat Southeastern Oklahoma State again in the Live United Texarkana Bowl,[62] to which they won 48–27.