Kirby Smart calls Austin Armstrong an ‘asset’ on UGA's 2019 staff
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida-Georgia rivalry features several coaching ties between the two schools since the hiring of Billy Napier, who worked with Georgia’s Kirby Smart at Alabama. Smart has also coached with multiple UF staff members.
The latest connection is Gators defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong. He started out with Napier in 2018 as a graduate assistant at Louisiana and then returned to the Ragin’ Cajuns as their linebackers coach in 2020.
In between his two stints at UL, Armstrong spent a year with Smart at Georgia. He served as a defensive quality control coach during the 2019 season. The Bulldogs went 12-2 and lost in the SEC title game to LSU, the eventual national champion.
“Austin was here with us. He was a really good idea guy, always looked for a better way to do things,” Smart said of Armstrong this week. “He didn’t feel limited by his role. He wasn’t afraid to speak up and have good ideas, which I think makes a good young coach when you think that way.”
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After a year at UGA and his first season as assistant coach in 2020, Armstrong was hired as the Southern Miss defensive coordinator at the age of 27. Two years later, he’s an SEC DC at the University of Florida after getting poached from Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama.
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Armstrong’s time in Athens certainly helped his career ascend, but Smart made it clear that he and his staff also learned some things from him and gave him a voice as a grad assistant.
“He comes from a really good defensive background, pedigree, lineage before he came to us,” Smart said of Armstrong. “Part of the reason we brought him with us is that he had ties to a lot of the similar schemes that we had run, and we knew that he could be an asset in terms of knowledge, experience, maybe bring something to the table for us that might be different outside the box of thinking.
“So, it was a great experience. I think he learned a lot from us in terms of recruiting style, our defensive tree. And when you get things like that and you have an energetic young coach, it’s a benefit for both parties. So, I think it worked both ways.”
The Gators have a top-20 unit under Armstrong this season, ranking No. 17 nationally in total defense at 311.7 yards allowed per game. Their third-down defense is in the top 10 (29.1 percent) and their passing defense ranks 21st nationally (187.0 yards per game).
