Leslie Higgins: The Ted Lasso before there was Ted Lasso

AFC Richmond had a Ted Lasso way before he showed up

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As I’ve been writing this series, I realized that I have never talked about Leslie Higgins. I think perhaps he has had a name drop in passing, but I have never focused on him directly. His most important on-screen relationship is with Rebecca and while I will likely take a look at that at some point, today I want to write about how AFC Richmond had a Ted in their midst for years without realizing it.

I know that I just referenced Parks and Rec in last week’s post, but I’m going to do it again, because Leslie Higgins has a lot of similarities to Jerry (Garry, Larry, Terry) Gergich. Older, chubbier, nice, bumbling, doesn’t really care about his job because he loves his family. But where Jerry never really escapes the mockery of his coworkers, Higgins becomes a beloved part of the organization. I think this is because Higgins is the Ted who was always there.

Higgins Cares for His Family

When we first meet Higgins, he is operating as the Director of Communications for AFC Richmond. We know that he was Rupert’s assistant and is now Rebecca’s and that she harbors some resentment toward him because he was complicit in Rupert’s many affairs. When Rebecca promotes him to Director of Football Operations, it is less about his skills, and more as a way for her to exert more control over him. He accepts this despite knowing that because he sees how it will benefit his family.

This is the first inclination we get that Higgins is like Ted - his desire to keep his family at the center of his priorities. When Rebecca “punishes” Higgins by not allowing him to go to Liverpool with the team, we see him on the couch with his family, preparing to watch the game together. When Rebecca calls him to yell at him to get to her office immediately, we see him eating breakfast with his family around. He talks about how much he loves his wife every single chance he gets. When a family pet dies, her collar is the item that is the most precious thing he can offer to clear the curse. Higgins steadfastly puts his family first. While Ted is struggling to figure out if he should stay in London in season 3, Higgins never questions if he should be with his family.

I don’t know if we can fully understand why some people can stay married for 30 years while other marriages end, but Leslie and Julie clearly make one another a priority. We see in “We'll Never Have Paris” that Ted and Michelle let life get in the way of continuing to cultivate their relationship. That’s easy to do, especially when children are added to the mix. But somehow Leslie and Julie are able to continue to make time to prioritize their relationship. 

Higgins Cares for the Team

Higgins is willing to put the needs of the team above his own. In season 2 when Dr. Sharon comes in, he offers her his office and becomes a bit of a nomad. He recognizes that her contribution to the team has value and that her need for a permanent space outweighs his own, so he gives her his office. 

And he cares for the team in other ways. When Dani is injured as soon as he comes to the team, Higgins is part of the plan to clear out the curse in the training room. It feels like a Ted plan, but we discover when it is all over that Higgins was the driving force behind it. He recognized the need for the players to come together as a team and the benefit of having two star players on that team. He organizes a full dinner for the team each Christmas so that none of them feel lonely during the holidays.

When Jamie finds him and asks for comp tickets for his dad, Leslie shares that father and son relationships can be complicated and that it’s okay to recognize that. Jamie has only really talked about his father with Ted at that point, but here he is able to open up to Higgins a bit as well. Leslie’s decision to give Jamie’s dad VIP tickets was less about his dad and more about recognizing Jamie’s contributions to the team. Because he cares about the team.

Higgins Cares for Rebecca

At some point I’m going to write about the relationship between Ted and Rebecca, but there is a deep sense of care between Higgins and Rebecca as well. Much like Ted and Rebecca, Leslie and Rebecca have a rocky season 1, and most of that is honestly on Higgins. When he worked for Rupert, he would have lunch with Rebecca to keep her from finding out about Rupert’s affairs. When she calls him out for that, he apologizes and agrees that he should have been braver. But he also recognizes that the pain that she carries about the end of her marriage won’t be eased by her schemes and he tells her so. 

Rebecca talks to Keeley about accountability being the earmark of a good relationship earlier in the season, and here Higgins offers her this accountability. It is a hard scene to watch, because her pain there is not just for her marriage, but for what she thought she had with Higgins. What is kind of beautiful is that in this moment, he is proving the value of his friendship by calling her to her better self and when she refuses, he makes the hard choice to leave his position. 

Their friendship after Rebecca goes to him and asks him to return is one of the sweetest in the show. I don’t know that it is a deeply intimate relationship, but it is steady and true. They love each other in a gentle, comfortable way. And I think that if Higgins was making the choice to leave, we might see a similar response to his departure that we did to Ted’s.

I think the biggest reason that people see Ted as this massively influential character and kind of forget Higgins is the issue of charisma. Ted is the kind of guy who dances with his players and Higgins is the kind of guy who spills beer on his head playing “upright air bass.” They are both goofy guys who love their families, love the team, love Rebecca, but one oozes charisma and the other…doesn’t. 

As I’ve been thinking about Higgins, I think it’s really important to keep our eyes open for the people who are holding things together without all of the flash. The people who are quietly, consistently, patiently caring for those around them without being the showiest person in the room. Who is the Ted we’re overlooking because they look like a Higgins?

Don’t let the exterior fool you - there might be a chill guy under there.