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Florida Football: Who is Austin Armstrong?

By Benjamin Henderson

GAINESVILLE, FL - SEPTEMBER 13: A general view of the sign saying This is..The Swamp during the game between the Florida Gators and the Kentucky Wildcats at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 13, 2014 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FL - SEPTEMBER 13: A general view of the sign saying This is..The Swamp during the game between the Florida Gators and the Kentucky Wildcats at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 13, 2014 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images) /
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Now that Patrick Toney has left as defensive coordinator of Florida football, all eyes are turned towards Alabama inside linebackers coach Austin Armstrong. It has been reported from Chris Low of ESPN that Billy Napier is targeting Armstrong to be the new defensive coordinator.

But just who exactly is Armstrong and what is his background?

Florida Football: Up and coming coach

If Armstrong does depart Alabama for Florida, his time in Tuscaloosa will have been short. Armstrong came to ‘Bama just last month after a two-year stint as the defensive coordinator at Southern Mississippi.

His rise has been swift as Armstrong graduated from Huntingdon College in 2014 and immediately began his coaching journey as a defensive line coach for West Georgia.

He became a graduate assistant at Louisianna University in 2017 and was still there in 2018 when Billy Napier took over as the head coach.

He was the youngest defensive coordinator in all of FBS when he was hired at Southern Mississippi in 2021, and his defense was dubbed the Nasty Bunch.

Among the key metrics for the Golden Eagles defense in 2022:

  • Gave up third down conversions 37.7% of the time (54th nationally)
  • 3.9 yards per rushing attempt (40th nationally)
  • 7.6 yards per passing attempt (87th nationally)
  • 5.3 yards per play (51st nationally)
  • 1.7 turnovers per game (31st nationally)
  • 0.39 points per play (39th nationally)
  • Sacked opposing QBs on 9.7% of passing attempts (7th nationally)

As we highlighted in our write up of the failures of Patrick Toney, it’s the final metric that caused a lot of issues for Florida football in 2022. Of course, the fear Gator fans will have is whether or not Armstrong’s defense will look like a version of Todd Grantham’s defenses when he was in Gainesville.

in 2021, Florida was 85th nationally in yards per passing attempt while ranking 28th in sacks per passing attempt.

Whether or not we have to relive Third-And-Grantham remains to be seen.

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