Report: Newly-Acquired Defensive Assistant Leaving Alabama for Florida

Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide just added a coach to their defensive staff — now he's headed to Gainesville instead for a larger role.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Newly-acquired defensive coach Austin Armstrong is leaving Alabama to join the staff at Florida under Billy Napier, per reports.

To follow up on this: Austin Armstrong is indeed leaving Alabama and taking the defensive coordinator job at Florida, sources tell @on3sports.

Armstrong was Southern Miss’ DC the last two years prior to joining the Bama staff in January.https://t.co/DlIXY67ten https://t.co/Qozxpeqy5N
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) February 22, 2023

Armstrong was hired in January as the inside linebackers coach. Now he will be taking the role of defensive coordinator for the Gators in 2023-24.

He will have never coached a game for the Crimson Tide.

Armstrong was the defensive coordinator at Southern Miss for the past two seasons.

At age 29, Armstrong is the youngest defensive coordinator in the FBS.

Armstrong graduated from Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala. in 2014 — where he played linebacker for four years.

It shouldn't come as a huge surprise. Jumping from inside linebackers coach to defensive coordinator at another SEC school is quite the promotion for a guy that hasn't handled the reigns in the conference up to this point.

He will join Napier in the rebuilding of the Florida football program.

Napier was on Alabama's staff under head coach Nick Saban twice in his career. In 2011, he was an analyst. From 2013-2016, he was the Crimson Tide's wide receiver coach.

Now, he has jumped in and stolen away one of Saban's newest hires.

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