Where Are They Now? - Tyrone Higgins - Florida Atlantic University Athletics

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BOCA RATON, Fla. – Building a winning culture comes naturally to former Florida Atlantic University linebacker Tyrone Higgins. 63921

Higgins' work at his alma mater, Palm Beach Gardens High School, is the latest example. This season, his first as a head coach, Higgins led the Gators to seven wins – the amount they had in 2017 and '18 combined – and a playoff berth.

The players rallied around Higgins from day one. And he had a similar influence on FAU's 2001 inaugural team.

"I kind of knew what it took to be a winner, and I knew how important it was to buy in and kind of lead," Higgins said of his freshman season at FAU.

There's a difference between knowing how to win and following through with it, though.

Higgins could have waited a year or two before making his voice heard. After all, FAU hadn't played a game yet, and the team was mostly comprised of underclassmen like himself.

So, what compelled him to share his knowledge?

"That's a simple answer – I'm not a loser," Higgins said succinctly.

He proved exactly that his junior year, leading FAU to the 2003 NCAA Division I-AA Playoff semifinals.

The winning formula was simple: Coach Howard Schnellenberger worked the team hard in practice, and Higgins – both with his words and frenetic style of play – motivated his teammates to get through it.

"Our group just kind of bought in," Higgins said. "And [FAU's coaching staff] instilled in us a level of toughness that not many people and teams at the time were going through."

Schnellenberger, cognizant of how players gravitated to Higgins on the field, wanted to see if that translated off it. So, he started inviting Higgins to speak at FAU events.

And through his play and public speaking, Higgins became a face of FAU football. That's why a mistake he made his senior year still irks him.

Midway through the 2003 season, Higgins and a couple teammates skipped practice. It was supposed to be a fun game of hooky, but Higgins couldn't enjoy it; he was "terrified" of the repercussions.

When Schnellenberger and assistant coach Kurt Van Valkenburgh found out, Higgins' fears crystalized.

"[Van Valkenburgh] pretty much wanted to rip us into shreds," Higgins said. "Schnellenberger just held it in. It wasn't a lot of talking; it was more staring and slow talking. But to me, it was humiliating, because I know I didn't want to freaking miss practice.

"We were the leaders, and we shouldn't have let it happen."

Higgins didn't get off easy despite his elevated stature on the team, though. One of Schnellenberger's coaching tenets was accountability, and there were no exceptions.

So, to reinforce that message, Schnellenberger held Higgins and Co. out of the first quarter of their next game – an eventual 49-15 home win over Edward Waters.

"It was just a bad situation, man," Higgins said. "But he didn't let it slide just because he wanted to win a football game."

Schnellenberger risked a loss by suspending some of his best players, including Higgins. But he knew that maintaining a strong team culture was more important than a single game result. And that's now ingrained in Higgins' coaching philosophy.

"That was one instance that kind of stuck with me as far as holding people accountable," Higgins said. "And I'm a head coach now in this new age and time, but it still comes down to getting kids to make good decisions."

The first place Higgins took that knowledge is the same one he's at now: Palm Beach Gardens. And in 2005, his first year as the school's linebackers' coach, they won the State Championship.

Higgins always wanted to coach. And that early success only strengthened his desire.

"It was just an awesome experience," Higgins said. "That's not something a lot of people can say they just walked into."

After a decade of position coaching, Higgins landed his first defensive coordinator job at Palm Beach Lakes High School.

And in his second year there, he faced a similar challenge to one he imposed on Schnellenberger.

A pair of senior linebackers violated team rules ahead of a big game against Pahokee. Higgins had a decision to make: let them play to give his team the best chance to win, or bench them to uphold the team's culture.

He followed Schnellenberger's lead by choosing the latter, placing two undersized and unproven players into the starting lineup.

The Rams suffered a loss that game but the net result was anything but. They allowed only six points, and the new starters were integral to that effort. And, most importantly to Higgins, the team learned that his high standards weren't optional.

"You just got to hold kids accountable," Higgins said. "There's always a silver lining that, 'yeah, you might take an 'L' initially, but that situation is either going to keep them from making the stupid mistake later when you really need them, or it's going to blossom some kind of new birth and a new athlete, and you give them an opportunity to show what they got.'"

The poise Higgins showed in that situation opened the door to another. Palm Beach Gardens needed a new coach, and Higgins' résumé rose to the top.

Thrilled with the possibility of coaching his alma mater, Higgins "practiced for the interview like crazy." But once he sat down with Don Hoffman, the school's principal, he relied on the beliefs that got him there in the first place.

"I just spoke about my ideals, and what I believed in as a coach," Higgins said. "And I think Dr. Hoffman saw the sincerity in my voice."

The first interview went well, and he earned another. But Higgins wasn't overzealous. Spring practice was well underway, and he wanted to focus on his current team until talks intensified.

But after the second interview, he finally let a smile run across his face – and for good reason.

"He kind of told me that I was the guy, and that was just real surreal," Higgins said. "It was a culmination of things coming together. It was pretty amazing."

Higgins' team lost to Deerfield Beach in the opening round of the playoffs, but that won't hamper his confidence. He took FAU to the postseason in the program's third year, when few thought a rise that fast was possible. And he's preparing for a similar one now.

"Hopefully I'll do it again," Higgins said, but quickly corrected. "Not hopefully – I'll win a state championship soon, just got to keep chugging along."

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Where Are They Now? - Tyrone Higgins

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