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Report: Houston targeting Florida's Austin Armstrong as next defensive coordinator

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•12/13/24•

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Florida DC Austin Armstrong
© Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

Houston is working to hire Austin Armstrong as its next defensive coordinator, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported. He spent the last two seasons in the same role at Florida. CBS now reports Armstrong has informed the staff he is leaving for the job.

Armstrong arrived at Florida as one of the youngest defensive coordinators in the country, and Nick Saban previously hired him to his staff at Alabama following the 2022 season. However, he decided to join forces with Billy Napier ahead of the 2023 campaign.

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Florida allowed 27.6 points per game in Armstrong’s first season as defensive coordinator in 2023, but the Gators took a step forward in 2024 after Ron Roberts came on board as co-DC and executive head coach. That number dropped to 24.3 points per game as UF bounced back under Napier’s watch, riding a late-season surge to a 7-5 record despite one of the hardest schedules in the country.

Armstrong arrived in Gainesville after two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Southern Miss. That came after a year under Napier at Louisiana as linebackers coach in 2020 and one season as a quality control coach at Georgia in 2019.

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Armstrong’s connection with Napier goes back to 2017 when he initially joined Louisiana as a graduate assistant, which was his second coaching job after one year as a graduate assistant at Division III West Georgia. Now, he’s preparing to work for Willie Fritz at Houston and replace Shiel Wood, who left to become the defensive coordinator at Texas Tech.

Houston’s defense was among the best in the Big 12 in 2024. The Cougars ranked No. 2 in total defense, allowing 324.8 yards per game, and was the third-best passing defense with 188.8 pass yards allowed on average.

Fritz had to replace both coordinators this offseason after Wood’s departure and parting ways Kevin Barbay. Houston is bringing in LSU tight ends coach Slade Nagle to helm the offense, reuniting him with his old boss at Tulane. Nagle was Fritz’s offensive coordinator with the Green Wave before he took the Houston job.