Robert Higginbothams father became the head coach at Hueytown in the spring of 1963 bringing Robert along with him as a sophomore quarterback.

He would be the starting QB for the next three seasons before attending the University of Alabama. Higginbotham would play defensive back for the Crimson Tide and Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant at Alabama in 1967 and 1968.

Higginbotham was a graduate assistant for Bryant, then served as an assistant coach at Etowah High under coach Jim Glover. In 1972 he worked with Shorty White at Banks High School, when the Jets won the State Championship.

He won a State Championship of his own at Mountain Brook in 1975 where he was the head coach between 1973 and 1975. The 1975 team defeated Dothan 29-23 in the title game at Legion Field in Birmingham.

In 1977, he took the head coaching job at Shades Valley where he served for the next twenty-two seasons. His teams there produced eleven region championships and qualified for the playoffs fourteen times.

Following the 1998 season Coach Higginbotham would take over the reins at Tuscaloosa County where his success continued. In ten seasons the Wildcats made the playoffs each season and won another seven region titles. His County teams combined for a record of 88-31 with four teams that were undefeated in the regular season.

For forty-seven seasons a Coach Higginbotham roamed the sidelines of Alabama high school football. Father and son would finish their careers with a combined record of 460-200-14.

He was the first head coach in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic football game in Mobile in 1988 and again in 1997. He joined his father in the Alabama High School Athletic Association Coaches Hall of Fame in 2002.