Billy Napier talks Patrick Toney leaving, when his next DC will start

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney is heading to the NFL, fulfilling a goal he’s had throughout his coaching career.

Toney has accepted a job with the Arizona Cardinals, Gators Online confirmed on Wednesday morning prior to a scheduled sit-down interview with UF coach Billy Napier.

On3’s Matt Zenitz has reported that Alabama assistant Austin Armstrong is leaving the Crimson Tide coaching staff and taking the defensive coordinator job at Florida.

Napier shared his reaction to Toney’s departure with GO.

“First of all, Patrick, I’ve spent five years with the guy, right? He’s been a pivotal piece of our success,” Napier said of Toney. “Can’t say enough about what the guy brought to our organization and our teams. Just a very relentless worker and learner, very selfless. I’m just really happy for him. Ever since I’ve met the guy, he’s wanted to go to the NFL. You think about his experience as a coach. He’s a self-made guy.

“He has really went out of his way to do a ton of professional development, to expose himself to really good coaches. He’s worked at Southeastern, Sam Houston State, UTSA, Louisiana and Florida. This is a great opportunity in front of him, and he gets to chase that dream he’s always wanted to do. So, just really proud of the guy. Patrick has been as good of a coach as we’ve had, so he’s going to do great and I’m excited for him and Courtney.”

Napier called Toney a bright up-and-comer in the coaching profession when he promoted him at 30 years old to coordinate his defense at Louisiana. 

In 2021, Toney’s defense finished first in the Sun Belt in scoring defense (18.3) and tied-for-ninth nationally, while ranking fourth in passing defense in the conference.

He didn’t experience that same success in his first season at Florida, as his unit finished 12th in the SEC in total defense and last in the league in third-down conversions.

“Obviously, no one’s more critical of themselves than Patrick. We didn’t play great defense this year and we’re all aware of that,” Napier told Gators Online. “But this guy is one of the finest coaches I’ve ever been around. He’s an incredible teacher, has the respect of the players. And I’ve told people before, we’re gonna be telling stories about this guy one day. He’s that kind of guy. He’s that bright.”

Napier on having to replace his DC

Toney’s replacement will reportedly be Armstrong, who was the Southern Miss DC the last two years prior to joining Alabama’s staff in January. Armstrong and Napier’s connection goes back to Louisiana when he served as a graduate assistant on his staff in 2018 and then returned as the inside linebackers coach in 2020 after spending the 2019 season at Georgia.

Napier has had to hire a new defensive coordinator before, replacing Ron Roberts with Toney after Roberts left Louisiana for the Baylor DC job. While Napier did not address the reported hiring of Armstrong with GO, he discussed having to make a coordinator change at this point in the offseason.

“You know, one of the things we’ve been able to do is hire good people, and hopefully we can continue that trend,” Napier said. “I think if you looked at who’s worked for us in the past, they’re spread out and they’re all over. So, this is another example. In this game it takes a great team of people, right? I think you get put in these positions, you become even more aware of the importance of surrounding with really good people.”

Napier did confirm that his new coordinator would be officially hired and on campus before the start of spring practice on March 4.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “I think part of our job is always having contingency plans in place, knowing what the next move is. So, one thing is we’re system oriented and we’ll continue to have direction. We’re fortunate we’ve got a great group of assistants and we’ve got it built the right way where we can manage attrition. We’ve always lost 4-8 people every year. The timing is not great (on Toney), but it is what it is.”

Stay tuned to Gators Online the rest of the week for stories from GO’s sit-down interview with Napier. Not a subscriber? CLICK HERE to receive a year of premium access with our new promo offer.