Gary Higgins was appointed the fifth head women’s soccer coach at East Carolina University in March of 2022 after an historic tenure at Lenoir-Rhyne.

In his second season in 2023, Higgins oversaw the Pirates’ first over-.500 record since 2018 with a 9-5-5 finish. The season also saw four players earn All-Conference recognition while Jazmin Ferguson became the first ECU player to earn player of the year honors since 2008 as she was named the 2023 American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

In his first season in Greenville, the Pirates got off to a torrid start in 2022, running out to a 5-2-1 record and earned votes in the United Soccer Coaches Poll for the first time in program history following a win at then-No. 19 SMU. The program earned six votes on Sept. 13 and seven votes on Sept. 20. Battling injuries, the Pirates would go on to an 8-8-3 record in Higgins’ first year.

In 2022, Higgins guided three players to All-Conference honors and helped Jazmin Ferguson to the American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year award.

Prior to East Carolina

While at Lenoir-Rhyne, Higgins became the all-time winningest coach in program history with a career record of 83-31-13, which includes a 49-16-1 mark in South Atlantic Conference (SAC) play. He guided the Bears to the 2021 NCAA Division II Semifinals before falling to eventual national champion Grand Valley State. It was the program’s first trip to the Final Four and the Bears’ final ranking of No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll was the highest in school history.

Higgins, a two-time SAC Coach-of-the-Year selection, led Lenoir-Rhyne to a pair of SAC regular season championships and one league tournament title. The Bears advanced to three NCAA Tournaments under Higgins’ watch, including the 2021 edition. He coached four All-America performers, most recently Ria Acton in 2021, and 46 all-conference picks, including the 2019 SAC Player-of-the-Year (Aqsa Mushtaq) and 2016 SAC Freshman-of-the-Year (Abigael McGarel).

Higgins’ squads also had success in the classroom with five Academic All-America honorees. Claire Neibergall was named the 2018 SAC Scholar-Athlete-of-the-Year - just the second Lenoir-Rhyne soccer player to win the award.

After starting his collegiate coaching career at Lenoir-Rhyne as an assistant for the men’s program, Higgins left his alma mater for Tusculum (Tenn.) where he was an assistant men’s coach from 2012 to 2015. The Pioneers went 24-24-6 with a SAC title in 2014 with Higgins on the staff.

As a player, Higgins was a four-year letterman at LR from 2006 to 2009 and earned Honorable Mention All-America accolades in 2007. He also was a two-time All-SAC and All-Region selection, leading the Bears to a 19-1-1 record in 2006 and a berth in the regional final of the NCAA Tournament.

A native of Paisley, Scotland, Higgins played for St. Mirren Football Club at the professional youth level and represented his country as a member of the U18 squad. He also played semi-professionally with the Reading (Pa.) Rage of the USL Premier Development League and captained the Knoxville Force of the NPSL. He led the Rage to the league semifinal in 2008 and garnered team MVP laurels.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in health and exercise science from Lenoir-Rhyne in 2009, Higgins completed requirements for a master’s in liberal arts from LR in 2011. Additionally, he holds a United Soccer Coaches Advanced National diploma as well as a USSF National D coaching license.

Higgins is married to the former Klara Ledford and the couple are the parents of daughters Mirin and Eilee.

 Career Record

 2015-21 (at Lenoir-Rhyne)

 83-31-13

 2022

 8-8-3

 2023

 9-5-5

 Total

 100-44-21

 ECU Total

 17-13-8