Hall of Fame
Elmer Higginbotham was an assistant football coach from 1971-1987, head football coach from 1988-91 and also head baseball coach from 1971-88.
While serving as an assistant coach to Sim Cooley, the Bobcats won three state football championships and participated in the playoffs 12 times. He also helped the Bobcats go to the Junior Rose Bowl in 1977.
Higginbotham has coached in numerous postseason bowl games and coached several All-Star teams in football and baseball. The Macon native was a three-sport letterman at high school, participating in football, baseball and basketball.
He earned a football scholarship to East Mississippi Junior College where he became an All-State player. He received his BS degree at Livingston University in Alabama and his ME at the University of Southern Mississippi.
He served as an assistant coach at East Mississippi and was the head coach at Leakesville High School, posting a 13-7 record in 1969-70. He then became offensive line coach at JCJC in 1971, where he served until becoming head coach in 1988.
Higginbotham was an active supporter of JCJC athletics, attending numerous sports events, including several road games. He supported the football team through advertisements and also donated two bricks to the brick walk at Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field.
He was an active member and deacon at Ellisville’s First Baptist Church. He was a member of the Ellisville Lions Club and was named Lion of the Year. He was named a Melvin Jones Fellow by Lions Club International. He was a lifetime member of Masonic Lodge #161 and was an active member of the Gideons.
Higginbotham passed away on July 26, 2011, after a brief illness at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg.
His wife, Sandra, was an instructor at JCJC and retired in 1995. Both of their daughters, Michele Whittle (Tim) of West Point and Mary Boleware (Garland) of Hattiesburg, are JCJC graduates. Whittle is an RN and Boleware is a physics instructor at JCJC. His grandchildren are Tanner Boleware, Hunter Boleware and Brock Walley.
