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New Alabama assistant Austin Armstrong leaving for Florida DC role

IMG_0985by:Griffin McVeigh•02/22/23•

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Florida football coach Billy Napier arrives at Kyle Field before a game against Texas A&M on Nov. 5, 2022. (Tim Warner / Getty Images)

Billy Napier needed a new defensive coordinator and made his search quick. Newly hired Alabama Crimson Tide assistant Austin Armstrong was rumored late Tuesday night to replace Patrick Toney, who is off to the NFL. Now, the move seems to be official.

According to Matt Zenitz of On3, Armstrong will be heading to Gainesville, ending his short stint with the Alabama program. He does have defensive coordinator experience, serving as such with Southern Miss over the past two seasons.

“Austin Armstrong is indeed leaving Alabama and taking the defensive coordinator job at Florida, sources tell @on3sports,” Zenitz said. “Armstrong was Southern Miss’ DC the last two years prior to joining the Bama staff in January.”

Toney will be moving out west to work for the Arizona Cardinals. He will join a new staff in the desert, with Jonathan Gannon being the new head coach. Napier had a longstanding relationship with Toney, spending time together at Louisiana as well.

Now, someone who is considered one of the top and youngest defensive minds in college football will be on the Gators’ staff. Armstrong’s position for Alabama had only been official for nine days as the inside linebackers coach. Napier has made quite the splash to run his defense heading into Year Two.

More about Austin Armstrong

Austin 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.

He was also the youngest defensive coordinator at the FBS level when he took the position at Southern Miss. Four players under his coaching earned honorable mention All-Conference USA in 2021, followed by seven conference honors in 2022.