GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators, less than 24 hours after losing Patrick Toney to the Arizona Cardinals, tabbed former Alabama linebackers coach Austin Armstrong to take over as their new defensive coordinator.
The 29-year-old Armstrong is now the youngest defensive coordinator at the Power-5 level. He spent less than one month at Alabama - having taken the linebacker job after two years as the defensive coordinator at Southern Miss.
Armstrong has familiarity with Florida head coach Billy Napier, having worked together at Louisiana-Lafayette for three seasons. Armstrong also worked with Kirby Smart at Georgia in 2019, and his defense at Southern Miss showed great development - leading the Sun Belt in sacks and tackles for loss last year, while finishing second in interceptions.
Locked on Gators host Brandon Olsen broke down the flurry of coaching moves at Florida this week, including how much of a hot commodity Armstrong has been in the past few years.
"It's a hire that I'm excited for schematically," Olsen said. "People inside football will recognize really good [talent] whether or not the results are there on the field.
Florida gave up about 29 points per game last year, good for just 97th in the country, and they were among the absolute worst teams in the entire country at stopping teams on third down.
The Gators have now posted consecutive losing seasons in SEC play for the first time since 1959 - perhaps a change in the coaches room will help this program right the ship and bring glory back to Gainesville in 2023.