Houston DC Austin Armstrong Confident About Cougars Path Heading Into 2025
![Florida Gators defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong smiles and gestures after a defensive stop during the second half against the Florida State Seminoles at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, November 25, 2023. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_3537,h_1989/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/houston_cougars_on_si/01k3kh7m6yc2z053bhb9.jpg "Florida Gators defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong smiles and gestures after a defensive stop during the second half against the Florida State Seminoles at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, November 25, 2023. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]")
In this story:
In the offseason, the Houston Cougars lost their defensive coordinator, Shiel Wood, who signed a $3.96 million deal with Texas Tech.
In response, UH went out and hired former University of Florida defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong.
Continuing Houston's Elite Defense
The Cougars defense ranked fourth in the Big 12 last season, and was the strong suit of their team.
Houston also finished No. 25 in the country in total defense, allowing just under 325 yards per game.
Head coach Willie Fritz’s track record has made Houston an intriguing place for not only players but also other coaches.
“I think success leaves clues,” Armstrong said. “I have aspirations to be a head coach one day, and I’ve been really fortunate to learn under a lot of people, and I think Coach Fritz is as good as any of them. With the success he has had, an opportunity to come here and build off what this staff has done defensively, it made a lot of sense for us.”
Austin also mentioned that Fritz’s winning made it an easy choice to be confident in joining the Cougars staff.
“Coach [Fritz] has won places you aren’t supposed to win at,” Armstrong said. “Houston definitely doesn’t fall under that category. So the job he has done everywhere he has been, that is what was attractive to me.”
Coaching Experience
Armstrong has coached since 2016, and Houston is the sixth college he has coached for.
Armstrong has coaching experience in arguably the best conference in the country, the SEC, with his time at Georgia and Florida.
He was also the youngest defensive coordinator in the SEC, being just 31 years old at the time of his hire at Florida.
In 2024, Florida ranked in the top 25 in five categories: sacks per game (No. 7), fumbles recovered
(No. 7), red zone defense (No. 12), turnovers gained (No. 16) and tackles for loss per game (No. 24).
Armstrong's True Coaching Motivation
Armstrong now joins a strong Houston team that reloaded on defense in the transfer portal and could be even better than last season.
To Armstrong, and the Houston staff, coaching is more than the game of football.
"I got into coaching to help young people become positive contributors to society," Armstrong said. "That's why I wanted to coach. The strategy, competition, relationships... is a threefold thing of why you get into coaching, and our vision aligns with what coach Fritz is."
Ashton Grissom is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He is currently a senior at the University of Houston and majoring in Sports Media Production with a minor in Marketing and Spanish. He also works for two student organizations: The Cougar and CoogTV. You can find Grissom on his Instagram (@ashtonagrissom8) or Twitter (@ashtongrissom8).