Jay Higgins has something to say. To be fair, he usually does. Higgins won last season’s Golden Gavel, awarded to the Iowa football player most cooperative and professional with local media, for a reason.

Due to that, Jay Higgins has been named the Big Ten Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year. The award comes after Higgins tallied his second season in a row surpassing 100 tackles. This year, jay Higgins tallied 118 tackles, five pass deflections, a sack, two forced fumbles, and four interceptions to prove he can do it all on defense.

After his second consecutive 110-plus tackle season, Iowa football’s Jay Higgins took home hardware as the top linebacker in the Big Ten. The senior earned not only first-team All-Big Ten honors from league coaches and media,