Report: Alabama to hire Southern Miss defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong to staff

Alabama head coach Nick Saban is set to hire Southern Miss defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong to his staff as an on-field assistant, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Friday. He just wrapped up his second season with the Golden Eagles.

Armstrong is no stranger to the SEC. He served as a defensive quality control coach at Georgia under Kirby Smart in 2019 before heading to Louisiana as inside linebackers coach. That was his second stint with the Ragin’ Cajuns after he worked there as a graduate assistant from 2017-18.

Under Armstrong’s leadership, the Southern Miss defense ranked tied for fourth in the nation in sacks and third in fourth down conversions allowed. The Golden Eagles also held teams to 361.7 yards per game and 23.5 points per game during the 2022 season. In 2020 — the year before he arrived — the Golden Eagles allowed 401.7 yards and 32.3 points per contest.

Earlier Friday, Alabama lost its defensive coordinator as Pete Golding left to take the same position at Ole Miss, ESPN’s Chris Low reported. The Crimson Tide defense ranked No. 13 in the nation with less than 320 yards allowed per game in 2022.

In addition to the defensive coordinator position and inside linebacker coach roles which opened up on Friday, Alabama has an opening for a safeties coach after associate defensive coordinator Charles Kelly left to join Deion Sanders’ staff at Colorado.

Alabama DC Pete Golding ‘leaving’ to take same position at Ole Miss

Ole Miss has hired Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding to the same position on the Rebels coaching staff, according to ESPN’s Chris Low. Golding served as defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach at Alabama since 2018.

Before Alabama, Golding had been a defensive assistant at a number of stops. He started at Delta State as a graduate assistant before a brief stint as the DC and defensive backs coach as Tusculum College. He then returned to Delta State as DC and DBs coach. From there Golding went to Southeast Louisiana, then Southern Miss and finally UTSA before getting hired to Alabama.

Under Golding, the Alabama defense was consistently among the top outfits in the nation in terms of total defense. However, in 2022, the Crimson Tide defense was struck by uncharacteristic issues, particularly giving up big plays on the back end of the defense.

Still, Alabama finished 13th nationally in total defense in 2022, giving up fewer than 320 yards per game. The Crimson Tide only gave up more than 20 points five times in 2022; five opponents also were shutout or only scored once.