Former Hornet Garin Higgins is in his 19th year and 18th season on the field as the Hornets head coach in 2024. His 113-84 record ranks second in career wins at Emporia State behind stadium namesake Fran Welch. Higgins is the fifth winningest coach in MIAA history and the second winningest active coach in the league.

Introduced as the 22nd head football coach in Emporia State history on December 14, 2006, Higgins set out to turn around a program that had gone 12-20 during the 2004 to 2006 seasons.  The Hornets had one of the best turnarounds in the country in 2012, improving by five wins over the previous year’s 5-6 record and finishing in second place in the rugged MIAA. The offense set several school records in 2012 as the Hornets racked up ten wins for the first time since 1989, when Higgins suited up as a quarterback for the Hornets.

Higgins has led the Hornet football program to an 94-48 record since 2012, compiling an impressive list of accomplishments and milestones along the way in the very rugged MIAA conference:

• He has taken his alma mater to the NCAA Division II playoffs in 2013, 2015 and 2016, winning three playoff games. 
• In 2015, the Hornets defeated both Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference champion Minnesota State – Mankato and Great American Conference champion Henderson State on the road to advance to the NCAA Super Region-3 championship.
• In 2016, the Hornets defeated Minnesota – Duluth 59-26 in Welch Stadium for the first NCAA Division II home playoff win in program history.
• He has led the Hornets to five postseason bowl games, going 4-1, including a 55-24 win over Southern Nazarene in the 2023 Fun Town RV Heritage Bowl and a 48-27 win over Southeastern Oklahoma in the 2022 Live United Bowl.
• He is the first coach in program history to win at least ten games in a season more than once, accomplishing the feat in 2012, 2015 and 2016. He accomplished this with three different quarterbacks.
• He has six seasons with nine or more wins in his 16 seasons which is more than the previous 21 Hornet head coaches have had in 127 seasons combined.
• He has coached in (11) and won (7) more post season games than any other football coach in Emporia State history.
• The 2010’s were the most successful decade in Emporia State history. The 73 wins between 2010 – 2019 the most in a decade by 16 wins.
• He has coached 224 All-MIAA players, including two offensive players of the year, a special teams player of the year and a freshman of the year. The 224 honorees include 38 first-team, 42 second-team, 27 third-team and 117 honorable mention selections and consist of 103 offensive players, 100 defensive players and 21 special teams players.
• He has coached 21 All-Americans, including five first-team selections, five second-team selections, a third-team selection and ten honorable mention honorees.
• He has coached 13 College Sports Communicators Academic All-Americans.
• As the quarterbacks position coach, Higgins has coached four Harlon Hill nominated quarterbacks. Tyler Eckenrode was nominated in 2012. Brent Wilson was nominated in 2015, was a finalist and finished 4th in the voting.  Braxton Marstall was nominated in 2016.  Braden Gleason was nominated in 2023, was a finalist and finished 7th in the voting.  Collectively, these four quarterbacks started 141 games, completed 3,293 passes in 5,122 attempts (64.3%) for 38,088 yards (21.64 miles) and 346 touchdowns during their Hornet careers.  On the ground, they rushed 1,226 times for 3,786 yards and 50 touchdowns.
• He has coached six Hornet players that have gone on to opportunities in the NFL. After playing linebacker in 2011 and 2012, Jeff Richards moved on to a career in the NFL and CFL as a defensive back from 2015 to 2022. Defensive lineman Harold Ayodele appeared in preseason games with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2011. Tight end Adam Schiltz appeared in preseason games with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013.  Defensive back Chris Poston was in New York Jets training camp in 2014. Wide receiver Austin Willis was in Oakland Raiders training camp and appeared in preseason games with the Buffalo Bills in 2015. Defensive lineman Eddie Vinson was in Chicago Bears training camp in 2017.
• His players and teams have rewritten the Hornet football record book. His players hold a stunning 34 individual school records to go with three team records.

Not to be overlooked by the on-field accomplishments, Higgins players have excelled in the classroom and in the community as well:

• 333 of Higgins’ players have earned a bachelor’s degree from Emporia State.
• The team G.P.A. has exceeded 3.0 for ten consecutive semesters dating back to the spring semester of 2020.
• In the last five years, 215 of Higgins’ players have achieved MIAA Academic Honor Roll for maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better.
• For each of the last four years, the Hornet football team has put in over 1,500 hours of community service.  In 2021, the Hornet football program led all NCAA Division II football programs in community service hours.

Prior to becoming head coach at Emporia State, Higgins served as the offensive coordinator at Northeastern State University of the Lone Star Conference in the 2006 season. Northeastern State was 3-2 in the Lone Star, their first winning conference record since 2000.

In 2005, Higgins served as the co-offensive coordinator at NCAA Division II member Minnesota State – Mankato in 2005.

From 2000 to 2004, Higgins compiled a 51-9 record as the head coach at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. During this period, the Rangers won five consecutive Central States Football League championships, qualified for the NAIA playoffs five consecutive seasons and had three national title game appearances. Higgins was also named the Central States Football League Coach of the Year five straight years. His .857 winning percentage from 2000 to 2004 is the highest in Northwestern Oklahoma State history. Higgins was inducted into the Northwestern Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.

Before being promoted to head coach, Higgins was the offensive coordinator at Northwestern Oklahoma State from 1997 to 1999 and the running backs and quarterbacks coach from 1994 to 1996. Higgins’ offense averaged over 42 points per game from 1999-2003 and his rushing offense led the nation in 1999 and 2000. The Rangers won 31 consecutive games from October 1998 through December 2000.

Higgins coached six players at Northwestern Oklahoma State that went on to play in the NFL: 

• Ron Moore was a defensive lineman that was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 7th round of the 2000 NFL draft.  He also spent time with the Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons and Oakland Raiders from 2000 to 2004.
• Dustin Loveless was a defensive lineman with the San Francisco 49ers in 2000.
• Lynn Scott was a defensive back with the Dallas Cowboys from 2001 to 2005.
• Brandon Christensen was a tight end with the Oakland Raiders in 2002.
• Sam Breeden was a wide receiver with the Green Bay Packers in 2004 and 2005.
• Patrick Crayton was a wide receiver that was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the 7th round of the 2004 NFL draft.  Crayton played for the Cowboys from 2004 to 2009 and the San Diego Chargers in 2010 and 2011.

Higgins got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Oklahoma in 1992 and 1993 where he earned his master’s degree.

A native of Blackwell, Oklahoma where he was an all-state quarterback, Higgins earned his undergraduate degree at Emporia State in 1992 where he was a four-year letterman for the Hornets and helped lead the team to a national runner-up finish in 1989. He has been involved with four teams that have played for or won national championships as a player, coordinator or head coach.

Higgins and his wife Heather, a 1995 graduate of Emporia State, have three adult children - son Halen who is married to daughter in-law Brooklyn and daughters Harlee and Gracyn.

THE HIGGINS FILE
Coaching Career
2024 Head Coach - Emporia State 7-4
2023 Head Coach – Emporia State 9-3@
2022 Head Coach – Emporia State 9-3&
2021 Head Coach – Emporia State 6-6~
2020 Head Coach – Emporia State (No Games COVID)
2019 Head Coach - Emporia State 4-7
2018 Head Coach - Emporia State 8-4^
2017 Head Coach - Emporia State 6-5
2016 Head Coach - Emporia State 11-2$
2015 Head Coach - Emporia State 11-3$
2014 Head Coach - Emporia State 4-7
2013 Head Coach - Emporia State 9-2$
2012 Head Coach - Emporia State 10-2%
2011 Head Coach - Emporia State 5-6
2010 Head Coach - Emporia State 5-6
2009 Head Coach - Emporia State 2-9
2008 Head Coach - Emporia State 4-7
2007 Head Coach - Emporia State 3-8
2006 Offensive Coordinator - Northeastern State 4-6
2005 Co-Offensive Coordinator - Minnesota State 2-9
2004 Head Coach - Northwestern Oklahoma State 9-2*
2003 Head Coach - Northwestern Oklahoma State 11-2#
2002 Head Coach - Northwestern Oklahoma State 11-1*
2001 Head Coach - Northwestern Oklahoma State 7-3*
2000 Head Coach - Northwestern Oklahoma State 13-1#
1999 Offensive Coordinator – Northwestern Oklahoma State 13-0!
1998 Offensive Coordinator – Northwestern Oklahoma State 7-3
1997 Offensive Coordinator – Northwestern Oklahoma State 5-5
1996 RB/QB Coach - NWOSU 8-3*
1995 RB/QB Coach - NWOSU 5-5
1994 RB/QB Coach - NWOSU 1-9
1993 Grad. Asst. - Northeastern State 7-3
1992 Grad. Asst. - Northeastern State 5-5

Playing Career
1990 Quarterback - Emporia State 6-4
1989 Quarterback - Emporia State 11-2#
1988 Quarterback - Emporia State 8-3*
1987 Quarterback - Emporia State 7-4*

$NCAA Division II Playoffs
@Heritage Bowl Champion
&Live United Bowl Champion
~Live United Bowl
^Corsicana Bowl Champion
%Kanza Bowl Champion

!NAIA National Champion
#NAIA National Runners-up
*NAIA Playoffs