Hall of Fame
Garin Higgins joined Northwestern Oklahoma State University’s coaching staff in 1994 as the running backs/quarterbacks coach before being promoted to the offensive coordinator coach and then the head coach from 2000-2004.
Higgins helped the Rangers find success, improving by four wins from his first season in 1994 and then another three wins in 1996 for an 8-3 season, making the NAIA playoff for the first time.
In his third year as the offensive coordinator in 1999, the Rangers won the NAIA Football Championship with a perfect 13-0 season and the program’s first national title. The following season in 2000, Higgins was promoted to head coach of the Ranger football program.
As Northwestern’s head coach, Higgins continued the program’s success with a 13-1 season and led the Rangers to NAIA Championship runner-up. In five seasons as the head coach, he accumulated a final overall record of 51-9 and finished with a 25-0 conference record, winning five straight CSFL Conference titles. The Rangers were National runner-up again in 2003. Over the course of five years, he coached 18 All-Americans including eight first-team and ten second-team members. In his Northwestern coaching tenure, he had 39 All-Americans. Higgins is the all-time winningest coach by winning percentage for Northwestern football. Following his time with the Rangers, he became the offensive coordinator at Minnesota State and Northeastern State before heading back to be with his alma mater at Emporia State as head coach of the Hornets since 2007.
His overall head coach record is 148-86 for a winning percentage of .632 at the collegiate level in 20 total seasons. Higgins currently resides in Emporia Kansas. He and his wife, Heather, have three children Halen, Harlee and Gracyn.
