In December, it was reported that BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall advised members of his offensive staff to seek other career opportunities as he contemplated a shakeup on that side of the ball.
Offensive coordinator Robert Anae was the first to take the advice to heart, taking the same position with Arizona less than a week later. Now, another of Mendenhall’s offensive assistants has landed another career opportunity.
In a press release, Purdue announced that head coach Danny Hope has added Patrick Higgins as the Boilermakers’ new wide receivers coach. Higgins had spent the past six seasons as BYU’s outside receivers coach and special teams coordinator.
“We are excited about the addition of Patrick Higgins to our program. He is an excellent football coach, with an exceptional resume of coaching wide receivers,” Hope said. “He also has a lot of experience with special teams and will complement Coach Gibboney in that area. We talked with a lot of people about the position and feel like we strengthened our staff by bringing Patrick on board. He is energetic, demanding and really smart, and I know our guys will enjoy playing for him.”
“I am extremely excited about joining the Purdue staff,” Higgins said. “I’ve known Coach Hope for a long time, and have great respect for him and his program. I am also looking forward to reconnecting with Coach Nord, who I was fortunate enough to work with at UTEP. I feel blessed and honored to be a part of the Boilermaker coaching staff and am looking forward to winning the Big Ten title and going to the Rose Bowl.”
Higgins has also spent time on staffs at UTEP and Louisiana Tech.