Citadel HC is out...

[Ibanez]

Just reported. Kevin Higgens is going to be an assistant at Wake Forest.

[Ibanez]

Citadel football coach Kevin Higgins will leave after nine years at the military school to take an assistant coaching job at Wake Forest, The Post and Courier has learned.

Higgins had a record of 43-58 in nine seasons at The Citadel, with two winning seasons -- 7-4 in 2007 and 7-4 again in 2012. Last season, the Bulldogs went 5-7.

Higgins and new Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson worked together at Lehigh University, where Higgins had a record of 56-25-1 in seven seasons from 1994-2000. The 2014 season would have the final season on Higgins' current contract at The Citadel.

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/2 ... ake-forest" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[CitadelGrad]

He was entering the last year of his contract and probably saw the writing on the wall. He got while the gittin' was good.

[Ibanez]

He was entering the last year of his contract and probably saw the writing on the wall. He got while the gittin' was good.

Better to resign than be fired.

[Grizalltheway]

He was entering the last year of his contract and probably saw the writing on the wall. He got while the gittin' was good.

Better to resign than be fired.

Zactly.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIqeXSYc8nE[/youtube]

[bucs90]

Wow, didn't see that coming. They open AT Charleston Southern next year, breaking in a new QB, lost several key All-SoCon caliber players, and now will be under a new head coach and new schemes. Not a pretty day for Citadel. But, with GSU and ASU gone, the Citadel can compete in the SoCon with the right guy.

[bucs90]

Maybe they should look at former CSU HC Jay Mills? He took CSU over the hump of a .500-ish team to 2005 BSC champs, and was the mentor of current CSU HC Jamey Chadwell. He knows the Charleston area well, and as a former assistant/OC at Harvard, he can certainly recruit to academically tough places.

[Doggerel]

A really bad move to go from The Citadel to Wake Forest.
Must have known his contract would not be renewed, but still.

[CitadelGrad]

Higgins said in his good-bye presser that he was offered an extension through 2015. I find that both surprising and disturbing.

Leading candidates at this point appear to be Sands, Candeto and Taaffe. Apparently there is a lot of interest in the job and the AD's phone has been blowing up.

[Libertine]

I love The Citadel but if Charlie Taaffe takes that job, he'd have to be drunk.

[OL FU]

I love The Citadel but if Charlie Taaffe takes that job, he'd have to be drunk.

Besides that he ruined a great rivalry by moving the game from the last game of the year

[Ibanez]

Maybe they should look at former CSU HC Jay Mills? He took CSU over the hump of a .500-ish team to 2005 BSC champs, and was the mentor of current CSU HC Jamey Chadwell. He knows the Charleston area well, and as a former assistant/OC at Harvard, he can certainly recruit to academically tough places.

You know what they should do? NOT hire Mills. The guy got canned for a reason.

[Ibanez]

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/2 ... o-bulldogs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Higgins' departure opens the door for an intriguing possibility - the return of former Citadel coach Charlie Taaffe, who led the Bulldogs to a Southern Conference title in 1992.

Taaffe, 63, is the respected offensive coordinator at Central Florida, which went 11-1 this season (losing only to South Carolina) and will play Baylor in the BCS Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Taaffe is reportedly a top candidate for the job at Army, where Rich Ellerson was just fired.

Taaffe had a 55-47-1 record in nine seasons at The Citadel, including the 11-2 mark in 1992, when the Bulldogs won the SoCon and were ranked No. 1 in the nation. But he was fired in 1996 after a second DUI arrest in three years. He was acquitted both times, remains popular among Citadel boosters and was recently voted into the military school's Athletics Hall of Fame. He and Citadel athletic director Larry Leckonby worked together at Maryland.

Taaffe did not return a phone message Monday, but has told friends he's eager to be a head coach again. He earns $261,000 a year at UCF, according to USA Today.

[Doggerel]

Taaffe at his age may not be looking for all the pressure in the world, and The Citadel would be a chance to redeem himself for losing his job to two DWI's.

Or, with App State and Georgia Southern gone, could look enticing enough that the upside of a huge quick shot in the career arm is too much to pass up.

[CID1990]

I don't know what the obsession is with ASU and GSU leaving the SoCon as having any effect on whether a coach would want to take a job with any SoCon school. Even The Citadel was 3-1 versus those two in the last two seasons.

I like Candeto, and I bet he will be on our short list.

We'll hit the ground running with Aaron Miller next year and the world will still turn.

[BJuice]

Coach Mills is now the pastor of a church in Tennessee. I believe he is truly retired (done) from coaching. Pastoring a church is not the type of job that one can leave for a job opening in the coaching business.

Citadel should go after the UNC Pembroke head coach or the Lenoir Rhyne head coach. Before all you Citadel alums laugh off my suggestion, listen and then look at what those two guys have done with their programs. Citadel could do much worse. It is only a matter of time before one or both of those guys gets a D1 opportunity and then look out. SERIOUSLY.

[Doggerel]

I don't know what the obsession is with ASU and GSU leaving the SoCon as having any effect on whether a coach would want to take a job with any SoCon school. Even The Citadel was 3-1 versus those two in the last two seasons.

If you are alright with beating your chest on beating them recently, look at how we did it. App State and Georgia Southern only played a couple of freshmen this season. That's like playing with your hands tied behind your back. Then the other win was with Coach Moore taking an extra season after they wanted him out because he was pretty much senile.
Yeah, great wins.

[CID1990]

I don't know what the obsession is with ASU and GSU leaving the SoCon as having any effect on whether a coach would want to take a job with any SoCon school. Even The Citadel was 3-1 versus those two in the last two seasons.

If you are alright with beating your chest on beating them recently, look at how we did it. App State and Georgia Southern only played a couple of freshmen this season. That's like playing with your hands tied behind your back. Then the other win was with Coach Moore taking an extra season after they wanted him out because he was pretty much senile.
Yeah, great wins.

Wow! I didn't realize that they broke from the norm and only played a couple freshmen!

I suppose in normal years the starting rosters carry loads of them?

That's a first for the Jerry Moore excuse though, cool story, bro.

[Libertine]

Coach Mills is now the pastor of a church in Tennessee. I believe he is truly retired (done) from coaching. Pastoring a church is not the type of job that one can leave for a job opening in the coaching business.

Incorrect. Jay Mills is now the Executive Director of First Broad Street United Methodist in Kingsport, TN. Essentially, he is in charge of the church's programs but is not a pastor. I agree that he is probably done with coaching but I say that only because his pattern of applying for every job under the sun has changed from coaching jobs to administrative ones.

EDIT -- Oddly enough, there is also another Jay Mills who is the rector of an Episcopal church in Kingsport so I can see the confusion.

[elcid83]

I love The Citadel but if Charlie Taaffe takes that job, he'd have to be drunk.

Good one Libertine. Made me laugh. That being said, I would not be terribly disappointed if Taaffe came back. He is the only coach in my brief history with The Citadel [1979 - 2013] who was able to figure out how to make us successful. I'd like to see us at least interview Mike Houston at Lenoir-Rhyne to see what he might bring to the table. Looks like a great young man who is on his way up.

Go Bulldogs!

[CitadelGrad]

I love The Citadel but if Charlie Taaffe takes that job, he'd have to be drunk.

Besides that he ruined a great rivalry by moving the game from the last game of the year

That was the SoCon. Taaffe had nothing to do with it.

[CitadelGrad]

We won't hire anyone who has not either coached or played at a military school. The list of good candidates is a lot longer than one would think.

[BJuice]

Incorrect. Jay Mills is now the Executive Director of First Broad Street United Methodist in Kingsport, TN. Essentially, he is in charge of the church's programs but is not a pastor. I agree that he is probably done with coaching but I say that only because his pattern of applying for every job under the sun has changed from coaching jobs to administrative ones.

EDIT -- Oddly enough, there is also another Jay Mills who is the rector of an Episcopal church in Kingsport so I can see the confusion.

Pastor, Executive Director of a church, whatever. Point made. He has left coaching and is now in the ministry.

I should have known that it would take the omnipotence from Liberty to clear things up. From now on I guess I will pass everything through the Falwell office to gain approval for speaking, writing, or typing.

From November 18 (last month)
Catching Up With Former CSU Head Coach Jay Mills

Mills made a tough decision last year, but a decision he stands behind. His decade on the sidelines at CSU has prepared him for his new career running a church in Kingsport, Tenn. "I really am enjoying it, seeing how football translates to life, and a church I'm happy to continue to serve in a Christian ministry," Mills said.

[Libertine]

I should have known that it would take the omnipotence from Liberty to clear things up. From now on I guess I will pass everything through the Falwell office to gain approval for speaking, writing, or typing.

Not necessary. Spending 10 seconds on Google would be sufficient.

[CharlestonAppFan]

http://www.citadelsports.com/sports/fba ... os_denny00

How about this guy? He's turned the Citadel's D around within a couple of years