Austin Armstrong left his ‘hero’ Nick Saban to take DC job at Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — New Florida defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong decided when he was 10 years old that he wanted to be a coach. He grew up an hour from Tuscaloosa and idolized Nick Saban.
However, his head attire was inspired by another SEC coaching legend.
“In third grade, I went to school for career day as Steve Spurrier. I had a visor and everything,” Armstrong said. “Coach Spurrier’s the reason I wear a visor. I’ve always worn one, but he was so different than me from a personality standpoint.
“My mom loved coach Spurrier, and that was a time when they were at their height. That was 2001. That was like [Rex] Grossman and Brock Berlin and those guys. I just fell in love with the Gators. I love them.”
However, Armstrong was an Alabama fan and a defensive coach at heart, and as much as he admired Spurrier’s personality, Saban was who he wanted to be. He came up under his coaching tree.
After serving as the defensive coordinator at Southern Miss for the past two seasons where he was the youngest DC in the FBS, the 29-year-old Armstrong got the chance to join Alabama’s staff.
He was announced as the Crimson Tide’s new inside linebackers coach on Feb. 13.
“Nick Saban was my hero, and the opportunity to be there and work for him and being at home was a dream come true,” Armstrong said. “We lost my mother in September, and it was really, really hard. And the good Lord puts you at Alabama of all places, you know?”
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Austin Armstrong and his wife put a down payment on a house in Tuscaloosa, but less than a month after he took the job, he was on the move again. He was offered and accepted the DC position at Florida the same week he was scheduled to close on his house, but the signing got pushed back.
“Fate was obviously in the hand there,” Armstrong said.
Before reuniting with UF coach Billy Napier, he had to tell his hero he was leaving. The conversation was tough for Armstrong, but Saban handled it like a pro.
“He was phenomenal,” Armstrong said. “It was the easiest decision to make, but it was a hard decision, you know what I’m saying? Because I’m a lifelong learner. I have the ultimate respect for the game of football, and opportunity to work for him, our defensive system derives from that system that he and coach [Bill] Belichick created about 30 years ago with the Browns.
“The opportunity to be there in that role to work with that staff and those people, that place — a phenomenal opportunity — but he was very supportive. That was an intimate conversation that I don’t want to go there with, but he was phenomenal and gave me a lot of good advice, pros, and cons. But it was a privilege to be there. Privilege to work there. But the opportunity to come here to be with Coach Napier is something you can’t pass up.”
