Football
Austin Armstrong
- Title:
- Defensive Coordinator
- Email:
- FootballMail@gators.ufl.edu
Austin Armstrong enters his second season with the Gators after being hired as Florida's defensive coordinator prior to the 2023 season.
In 2024, Armstrong helped guide Florida to a late-season charge, winning the last four games of the season to finish with an 8-5 record overall, with victories over No. 21 LSU, No. 9 Ole Miss, Florida State and Tulane in the 16th Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. The Gators were one of just unranked six teams in the nation to post multiple top-25 wins on the year.
As a unit, the Florida defense finished the season ranked ninth in the nation in red zone defense (.725), 11th in sacks per game (3.0), 11th in fumbles recovered (11) and 13th in turnovers gained (25). The Gators finished the year with at least one takeaway in 10-straight games and 12 times in 13 games.
The Gator defense improved in nearly every statistical category from 2023 to 2024, including sacks (+17), tackles for loss (+28), forced fumbles (+11), pass breakups (+12), interceptions (+11) and turnovers gained (+18).
Armstrong lead a youthful Gators defensive in his first season in Gainesville, which featured 17 starts made by freshmen (true + redshirt) and three defensive first-years in Jordan Castell, Kelby Collins and T.J. Searcy earned SEC All-Freshman honors.
Castell played all 12 games and started the last 11 consecutively while finishing as the team-leader in tackles (60) and most defensive snaps played with 660, one of two UF players (Jason Marshall Jr. / 651) to play over 600-plus snaps. There were only 51 defensive snaps Castell didn’t play in. He accumulated 751 snaps (adding special teams), marking the only defensive player and sixth Gator to play in 700-plus snaps joining the likes of Graham Mertz and Ricky Pearsall.
According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Castell had a grade of 75.7, which ranked fifth among FBS true freshmen and second in the SEC behind Alabama’s Caleb Downs, the SEC Freshman of the Year. Castell’s week three performance (10 tackles + pass breakup) in the 29-16 victory over No. 11 Tennessee earned him a pair of weekly honors in SEC Freshman of the Week and Shaun Alexander National Freshman of the Week.
Prior to Florida, Armstrong spent two seasons as the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach at Southern Miss. During his first season in 2021, Armstrong was the youngest defensive coordinator in the FBS.
The Southern Miss defense, known as the Nasty Bunch during Armstrong's tenure, ranked sixth in the Sun Belt in scoring defense (23.5 ppg), a mark that ranked 45th nationally in 2022. The Golden Eagles were third nationally in tackles for loss per game (8.3), fifth in sacks (3.38) and seventh in interceptions (17). USM was also third in fourth down conversion defense (.231).
During his first year as the Southern Miss defensive coordinator, USM ranked No. 42 nationally in total defense (385.5), besting their mark by 18 spots from the season before. His defense also ranked in the top 10 in the country in first downs allowed (No. 2), fumbles recovered (No. 4), red zone defense (No. 6) and defensive touchdowns (No. 7) while finishing at No. 15 in turnovers gained and No. 24 in passing yards allowed.
The Golden Eagles held their opponents to under 100 yards rushing in seven games (out of 24 games) during Armstrong's tenure and registered the program's first shutout since 2017 in a 37-0 win over Grambling in 2021.
Seven USM defenders earned All-Sun Belt recognition in 2022 with linebacker Shantrell Latham anddefensive back Malik Shorts named to the first-team and defensive back Jay Stanley garnering third-team recognition while defensive lineman Jalen Williams, linebacker Daylen Gill, linebacker Averie Habas and defensive back Natrone Brooks earned honorable mention honors. Four of his defensive players earned honorable mention All-Conference USA in 2021, including defensive lineman Josh Carr, linebackers Santrell Latham and Hayes Maples, and defensive back Malik Shorts.
Armstrong spent the 2020 campaign as the inside linebackers coach at Louisiana, where the Ragin' Cajuns were nationally ranked and the defense held three top-five national rankings through the end of the regular season, including No. 2 in passes intercepted (15), No. 3 in defensive passing efficiency (96.27) and No. 4 in passing yards allowed per game (166.9), in addition to ranking No. 31 in total defense (347.8).
Armstrong returned to Lafayette after spending the 2019 season at Georgia where he worked as a defensive quality control coach, assisting coach Kirby Smart's squad as they climbed as high as No. 3 in the national rankings. The Bulldogs finished the 2019 season with a 12-2 record and a win in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
Armstrong also served as a defensive graduate assistant coach with the Ragin' Cajuns for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Louisiana claimed its first of back-to-back Sun Belt Conference West Division championships in 2018, played in the Sun Belt's inaugural football championship game and earned a berth in the AutoNation Cure Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
Prior to his first stint in Lafayette, Armstrong was an assistant defensive line coach at West Georgia (Div. II) for the 2016 season. He earned his bachelor's degree from Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala., in 2014, after playing linebacker for the Hawks for four seasons.
Armstrong is married to the former Tiffany Taylor.
In 2024, Armstrong helped guide Florida to a late-season charge, winning the last four games of the season to finish with an 8-5 record overall, with victories over No. 21 LSU, No. 9 Ole Miss, Florida State and Tulane in the 16th Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. The Gators were one of just unranked six teams in the nation to post multiple top-25 wins on the year.
As a unit, the Florida defense finished the season ranked ninth in the nation in red zone defense (.725), 11th in sacks per game (3.0), 11th in fumbles recovered (11) and 13th in turnovers gained (25). The Gators finished the year with at least one takeaway in 10-straight games and 12 times in 13 games.
The Gator defense improved in nearly every statistical category from 2023 to 2024, including sacks (+17), tackles for loss (+28), forced fumbles (+11), pass breakups (+12), interceptions (+11) and turnovers gained (+18).
Armstrong lead a youthful Gators defensive in his first season in Gainesville, which featured 17 starts made by freshmen (true + redshirt) and three defensive first-years in Jordan Castell, Kelby Collins and T.J. Searcy earned SEC All-Freshman honors.
Castell played all 12 games and started the last 11 consecutively while finishing as the team-leader in tackles (60) and most defensive snaps played with 660, one of two UF players (Jason Marshall Jr. / 651) to play over 600-plus snaps. There were only 51 defensive snaps Castell didn’t play in. He accumulated 751 snaps (adding special teams), marking the only defensive player and sixth Gator to play in 700-plus snaps joining the likes of Graham Mertz and Ricky Pearsall.
According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Castell had a grade of 75.7, which ranked fifth among FBS true freshmen and second in the SEC behind Alabama’s Caleb Downs, the SEC Freshman of the Year. Castell’s week three performance (10 tackles + pass breakup) in the 29-16 victory over No. 11 Tennessee earned him a pair of weekly honors in SEC Freshman of the Week and Shaun Alexander National Freshman of the Week.
Prior to Florida, Armstrong spent two seasons as the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach at Southern Miss. During his first season in 2021, Armstrong was the youngest defensive coordinator in the FBS.
The Southern Miss defense, known as the Nasty Bunch during Armstrong's tenure, ranked sixth in the Sun Belt in scoring defense (23.5 ppg), a mark that ranked 45th nationally in 2022. The Golden Eagles were third nationally in tackles for loss per game (8.3), fifth in sacks (3.38) and seventh in interceptions (17). USM was also third in fourth down conversion defense (.231).
During his first year as the Southern Miss defensive coordinator, USM ranked No. 42 nationally in total defense (385.5), besting their mark by 18 spots from the season before. His defense also ranked in the top 10 in the country in first downs allowed (No. 2), fumbles recovered (No. 4), red zone defense (No. 6) and defensive touchdowns (No. 7) while finishing at No. 15 in turnovers gained and No. 24 in passing yards allowed.
The Golden Eagles held their opponents to under 100 yards rushing in seven games (out of 24 games) during Armstrong's tenure and registered the program's first shutout since 2017 in a 37-0 win over Grambling in 2021.
Seven USM defenders earned All-Sun Belt recognition in 2022 with linebacker Shantrell Latham anddefensive back Malik Shorts named to the first-team and defensive back Jay Stanley garnering third-team recognition while defensive lineman Jalen Williams, linebacker Daylen Gill, linebacker Averie Habas and defensive back Natrone Brooks earned honorable mention honors. Four of his defensive players earned honorable mention All-Conference USA in 2021, including defensive lineman Josh Carr, linebackers Santrell Latham and Hayes Maples, and defensive back Malik Shorts.
Armstrong spent the 2020 campaign as the inside linebackers coach at Louisiana, where the Ragin' Cajuns were nationally ranked and the defense held three top-five national rankings through the end of the regular season, including No. 2 in passes intercepted (15), No. 3 in defensive passing efficiency (96.27) and No. 4 in passing yards allowed per game (166.9), in addition to ranking No. 31 in total defense (347.8).
Armstrong returned to Lafayette after spending the 2019 season at Georgia where he worked as a defensive quality control coach, assisting coach Kirby Smart's squad as they climbed as high as No. 3 in the national rankings. The Bulldogs finished the 2019 season with a 12-2 record and a win in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
Armstrong also served as a defensive graduate assistant coach with the Ragin' Cajuns for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Louisiana claimed its first of back-to-back Sun Belt Conference West Division championships in 2018, played in the Sun Belt's inaugural football championship game and earned a berth in the AutoNation Cure Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
Prior to his first stint in Lafayette, Armstrong was an assistant defensive line coach at West Georgia (Div. II) for the 2016 season. He earned his bachelor's degree from Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala., in 2014, after playing linebacker for the Hawks for four seasons.
Armstrong is married to the former Tiffany Taylor.
| AUSTING ARMSTRONG COACHING HISTORY | |
| Year | School, Position |
| 2023-Pres. | Florida, DC |
| 2021-22 | Southern Miss, DC |
| 2020 | Louisiana, LB |
| 2019 | Georgia, Quality Control |
| 2017-18 | Louisiana, Graduate Assistant |
| 2016 | West Georgia, Graduate Assistant |
| NFL PLAYERS COACHED BY ARMSTRONG | |||||
| Year | Rnd | Player | Pos | Team | College |
| 2023 | 6 | Eric Scott Jr. | CB | Dallas Cowboys | Southern Miss |
| 2022 | FA | Natrone Brooks | DB | Atlanta Falcons | Southern Miss |
| 2022 | FA | Malik Shorts | DB | Las Vegas Raiders | Southern Miss |
| 2022 | FA | Dominic Quewon | DL | Chicago Bears | Southern Miss |
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