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Bob Higgins
Bob Higgins went 123–83–16 as a head coach, 1920–1948, at West Virginia Wesleyan, Washington St. Louis and Penn State. Share
Four seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1920, 1922–24 at West Virginia Wesleyan. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 123–83–16 career
- Seasons
- 26
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 1 season
- Hall of Fame
- 1954 inducted
- Best season
- 1947 9–0–1, No. 4
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | West Virginia Wesleyan * | 4–4–1 | ||||
| 1921: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1922 | West Virginia Wesleyan * | 8–2 | ||||
| 1923 | West Virginia Wesleyan * | 3–4–1 | ||||
| 1924 | West Virginia Wesleyan * | 9–2 | Dixie Classic W | |||
| 1925 | Washington St. Louis | 2–5–1 | 9th | |||
| 1926 | Washington St. Louis | 1–7 | 10th | |||
| 1927 | Washington St. Louis | 5–2–2 | T–5th | |||
| 1928–29: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 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 | Cotton Bowl T | 4 | ||
| 1948 | Penn State | 7–1–1 | 18 | |||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
Players he coached
Jeff DurkotaNo. 8 AAFC pick, 1948
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 12 | 3–7–2 | 33% |
| Against top-10 teams | 7 | 1–5–1 | 21% |
| Against rivals | 60 | 31–25–4 | 55% |
| Conference games | 17 | 3–12–2 | 24% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 1 | 0–0–1 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 68 | 24–30–14 | 46% |
| At home | 92 | 67–21–4 | 75% |
| On the road | 88 | 30–49–9 | 39% |
| At neutral sites | 4 | 2–1–1 | 63% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 114 | 88–19–7 | 80% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 70 | 11–52–7 | 21% |
His own 184 games on file, 1925–1948, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Morrison 1925–1948 | 7–2 | SMU, Temple | 9 | |
| Ossie Solem 1925–1945 | 5–2–2 | Drake, Syracuse | 9 | |
| Andrew Kerr 1930–1946 | 4–4–1 | Colgate | 9 | |
| Vic Hanson 1930–1936 | 1–5–1 | Syracuse | 7 | |
| Al Humphreys 1938–1946 | 5–1 | Bucknell | 6 | |
| Jock Sutherland 1930–1938 | 0–6 | Pittsburgh | 6 | |
| Harvey Harman 1933–1937 | 1–3–1 | Pennsylvania | 5 | |
| Carl Snavely 1930–1939 | 0–5 | Bucknell, Cornell | 5 | |
| George Munger 1938–1948 | 3–0–1 | Pennsylvania | 4 | |
| Charles Bowser 1939–1942 | 3–1 | Pittsburgh | 4 |
Bob Higgins’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Syracuseseries | 18 | 9–6–3 |
| Bucknellseries | 16 | 12–4 |
| Pittsburghseries | 16 | 5–11 |
| Lehighseries | 11 | 10–1 |
| Colgateseries | 11 | 6–4–1 |
| Templeseries | 10 | 7–3 |
| Pennsylvaniaseries | 9 | 4–3–2 |
| West Virginiaseries | 8 | 5–3 |
Other roles
- Team captain, Penn State 1917, 1919 (his playing career)
From each season’s Wikipedia article.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | West Virginia Wesleyan | Head coach | |
| 1922–24 | West Virginia Wesleyan | Head coach | |
| 1925–27 | Washington University | Head coach | |
| 1925–27 | Washington St. Louis | Head coach | |
| 1928–29 | Penn State | Assistant coach | |
| 1930–48 | Penn State | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included. Head-coaching seasons the infobox leaves out come from our records.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Hugo BezdekPenn State
Assistants who became head coaches
- Joe BedenkPenn State
- Al MichaelsNC State
- Earle EdwardsNC State
Worked under (1)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hugo Bezdek | Penn State | 1928–29 | Assistant coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (3)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Bedenk | Penn State, 1930–48: assistant coach | Penn State | |
| Al Michaels | Penn State, 1935–48: assistant coach | NC State | |
| Earle Edwards | Penn State, 1936–48: assistant coach | NC State |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.