James Benton Higgins Jr. (January 10, 1920 – June 6, 1991) was an American football player and coach and college athletics administrator.
He played college football at Trinity University in Waxahachie, Texas and professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for one season, in 1941, with the Chicago Cardinals.
Higgins served as the head football coach at Lamar State College of Technology—now known as Lamar University—in Beaumont, Texas from 1953 to 1962, compiling a record of 59–38–4.
Higgins was an assistant coach at Lamar Tech for four seasons under Stan Lambert before succeeding him as head coach.
[1] After playing with the Cardinals, Higgins entered the United States Marine Corps, reaching the rank of major.