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FOOTBALL: INTER I M COACH P A TR I CK H I GG I NS Taking Over Higgins in charge as Boilers prep for bowl KCharters@GoldandBlack.com BY KYLE CHARTERS rick Higgins' organization and at- tention to detail. Those traits should help Hig- Marve's often talked of Pat- During the last month, Robert gins now, as the wide receivers coach takes over as Purdue's in- terim head coach while the Boil- ermakers prepare for their bowl game next month. Marve worked more closely together lately, when Higgins took over as Purdue's play-caller following the back injury to offensive coor- dinator Gary Nord. Purdue won the three games since, rallying to qualify for the postseason for the second straight season. "When he came in X, Y and and Higgins have Patrick Higgins (right) takes over as Purdue's interim head coach following the dismissal of Danny Hope on Sunday. practice), that day, he was ready for us. Z was on the table for me and all the quarterbacks and this is what we're going to do and these are the plays we like in this situation," Marve said of Higgins following the win over Iowa. "He was very vocal and very clear about it. Even the first time he came out (for again now. He takes over for Dan- ny Hope, who was fired a day af- ter the Boilermakers' 56-35 win over Indiana. Higgins, who is in his second season as Purdue's wide receiver coach, was introduced as the interim Sunday night. He was set to get to work early the next morning, first organizing his play- ers' academic plans, finalizing their lifting and conditioning schedule and meeting with trainers. Higgins will have to be ready " Tom Campbell opportunity. Not a lot of kids get to go to a bowl game two years in a row. So it's an honor for these kids to have achieved that goal, especially with where they were three weeks ago. coaching experience, although he calls it irrelevant now. In the early 90s, he was a 29-year-old head coach at William Penn University, a Division III program, for a sea- son, before a year at St. Andrews Prep in Savannah, Ga. But at William Penn, he had only one full-time assistant, and at the prep, he had only 13 players. It's not quite the same as running the Boilermakers for a month. "There's not a lot to draw on," Higgins said. "But the thing I can on at least some head Higgins can draw " tion) will be tested, but it's a good test and we look forward to it as a staff, "That (organiza- " he said. "It's an say is that the coaches I've had the great opportunity to work under, you learn something from each. So that process is good. And I feel I'm ready to accept this challenge and we feel as a staff we can make this work. erated path the last month, pre- ceding Sunday's announcements. Higgins has been on an accel- " Warren Hill, ME '63 Jim Hill, MET '95, MBA '03 Jim Billard, LA '90 Brian Teyema, ME '87 Scott Dierking, IM '77 Russ Nelson, BCM '00 David Pikey, PH '97 Angela Billard, ED '90 Bill Silfies, MBA '03 Nick Muscolino, MET '06 Matthew Crawford,MET '05 Bob Hill, BCM '06 Ryan Stojkovich, BS '97 Mike Ivanovic, AS '81 Anthony Borgnini, ME '07 Anthony Camasta, MET '04 Beth Beigelbeck, SM '97 Deborah Toth, MET '07 Daniel Block, ME '08 Daniel Gasser, BS '04 Jason Jones, MET '08 Nick Johnson, BCM '09 Bryan O'Neill, BCM '09 Steven Sitkowski, BCM '10 Chris Summers, ME '10 Isaac Townsend, ME '10 Don Wunderlich, ME '13 Chris Gushurst, BCM '11 Joe Motuliak, MBA '11 Taylor Spaulding, ME '12 Grant Fillipatch, MET '12 Jessica James, BS '13 Robert C Krier, MET '13 Andy Mack, BS '15 Kevin Morrisroe, ME '15 Michael Rish, BCM '13 Martin Smith, MET '13 Only four weeks ago, his sole re- sponsibility was as the Boilermak- ers' wide receiver coach. But fol- lowing Nord's back injury — the severity has kept him limited to crutches, attending only the oc- casional practice and team meet- ing — Higgins took over offensive play-calling duties. And now, Higgins is in charge We're proud to be Illinois' largest HVAC contractor and to have 37 outstanding Purdue alumni on our HVAC/Plumbing team. THE HILL GROUP CARLE HOSPITAL – Urbana, IL The Hill Group was chosen for the HVAC, medical gas piping, plumbing, fire protec- ton, test and balance, and commissioning for this new nine-story, 378,000 square foot hospital. hillgrp.com GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 23, EXPRESS 13 • 10 PURDUE PRIDE