| Bob Higgins | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sport(s) | Football | |
| Biographical details | ||
| Born | November 24, 1894 | |
| Place of birth | Corning, New York | |
| Died | June 6, 1969 (aged 74) | |
| Place of death | State College, Pennsylvania | |
| Playing career | ||
| 1914–1916, 1919 1920–1921 |
Penn State Canton Bulldogs |
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| Position(s) | End | |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | ||
| 1920, 1922–1924 1925–1927 1928–1929 1930–1948 |
West Virginia Wesleyan Washington University Penn State (assistant) Penn State |
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| Head coaching record | ||
| Overall | 123–83–16 | |
| Bowls | 1–0–1 | |
| Statistics | ||
| College Football Data Warehouse | ||
| Accomplishments and honors | ||
| Awards | ||
| All-American, 1915 All-American, 1916 All-American, 1919 |
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Inducted in 1954 (profile) |
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Robert A. Higgins (November 24, 1894 – June 6, 1969) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at Pennsylvania State University, where he was a three-time All-America, and then with professionally with the Canton Bulldogs in 1920 and 1921. Higgins served as the head football coach at West Virginia Wesleyan College (1920, 1922–1924), Washington University in St. Louis (1925–1927), and Pennsylvania State University, compiling a career college football record of 123–83–16. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1954.
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Higgins played at Penn State from 1914 to 1916, and was named an All-American in 1915. After spending World War I in the service, he returned to captain Penn State, earning All-America honors again in 1919. In a 20–0 victory over Pittsburgh that season, Higgins caught a pass from Walter Hess and turned it into a thrilling 92-yard touchdown and was immortalized in Knute Rockne's "Great Football Plays."
In 1920 and 1921, Higgins played end for the Canton Bulldogs of the National Football League.
Higgins coached four seasons at West Virginia Wesleyan (1920, 1922–1924), and three seasons at Washington University in St. Louis. He returned to Penn State in 1928, first as an assistant coach, before becoming head coach in 1930. He served as head coach there for the next 19 seasons. He led the Nittany Lions to only the second unbeaten season in the school's history, culminating in a tie versus Southern Methodist University in the 1948 Cotton Bowl Classic. It marked only the second time that Penn State had played in a bowl game.
Ill health forced Higgins' retirement after the 1948 season, but he remained at Penn State as a special assistant in the Physical Education Department until his retirement in November 1951. His overall coaching record was 123–83–16. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954.
Higgins was the brother of Margaret Sanger, famed campaigner for birth control, family planning and social reform. He is the great grandfather, of current Penn State running back Joe Suhey and former quarterback Kevin Suhey. He was the father-in-law of All-American guard and fellow College Football Hall of Fame inductee, Steve Suhey, and grandfather of Nittany Lion standouts Paul Suhey and Larry Suhey and former Chicago Bears fullback, Matt Suhey. The Higgins-Suhey family has been called the "first family" of Nittany Lion football, with 90 years of involvement with the Penn State football program. More recently, Paul's son Kevin and Matt's son Joe have played for the Nittany LIons (Higgins' great grandchildren). His youngest daughter Nancy Higgins married James J Dooley Jr, who was a second string All American Center in 1952 at Penn State. Their son James J Dooley III also played football at Penn State from 1979 to 1981 . Their other son Peter Dooley was on the Cross Country and Track & Field team at Penn State from 1982-84. Bob Higgin's eldest grandson, Robert Lyford,son of Higgins eldest daughter Mary Ann, played basketball at Penn State during the late 1960's.
| Year | Team | Overall | Bowl/playoffs | AP# | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats (1920) | ||||||||
| 1920 | West Virginia Wesleyan | 4–4–1 | ||||||
| West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats (1922–1924) | ||||||||
| 1922 | West Virginia Wesleyan | 8–2 | ||||||
| 1923 | West Virginia Wesleyan | 3–4–1 | ||||||
| 1924 | West Virginia Wesleyan | 9–2 | W Dixie Classic | |||||
| West Virginia Wesleyan: | 24–12–2 | |||||||
| Washington University Bears (1925–1927) | ||||||||
| 1925 | Washington University | 2–5–1 | ||||||
| 1926 | Washington University | 1–7 | ||||||
| 1927 | Washington University | 5–2–2 | ||||||
| Washington University: | 8–14–3 | |||||||
| Penn State Nittany Lions (1930–1948) | ||||||||
| 1930 | Penn State | 3–4–2 | ||||||
| 1931 | Penn State | 2–8 | ||||||
| 1932 | Penn State | 2–5 | ||||||
| 1933 | Penn State | 3–3–1 | ||||||
| 1934 | Penn State | 4–4 | ||||||
| 1935 | Penn State | 4–4 | ||||||
| 1936 | Penn State | 3–5 | ||||||
| 1937 | Penn State | 5–3 | ||||||
| 1938 | Penn State | 3–4–1 | ||||||
| 1939 | Penn State | 5–1–2 | ||||||
| 1940 | Penn State | 6–1–1 | ||||||
| 1941 | Penn State | 7–2 | ||||||
| 1942 | Penn State | 6–1–1 | 19 | |||||
| 1943 | Penn State | 5–3–1 | ||||||
| 1944 | Penn State | 6–3 | ||||||
| 1945 | Penn State | 5–3 | ||||||
| 1946 | Penn State | 6–2 | ||||||
| 1947 | Penn State | 9–0–1 | T Cotton | 4 | ||||
| 1948 | Penn State | 7–1–1 | 18 | |||||
| Penn State: | 91–57–11 | |||||||
| Total: | 123–83–16 | |||||||
| #Rankings from final AP Poll. | ||||||||
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