College football news: Alabama assistant poached, Georgia losing DC, Caleb Williams’ top NFL choice and more
College Football News: Nick Saban loses Alabama assistant Austin Armstrong to Florida
Since Nick Saban came to Tuscaloosa and built the dynasty, the Alabama Crimson Tide losing assistants to other programs is nothing new. Having said that, we have seen that start to take its toll in recent years, most notably with Bill O’Brien and Pete Golding being the most recent offensive and defensive coordinators after replacing coaches hired away and angering the fanbase throughout their tenures.
It is rare, however, that an assistant gets poached before ever stepping on the sidelines at Alabama.
Yet, as Florida lost defensive coordinator Patrick Toney to the Arizona Cardinals, the Crimson Tide saw Austin Armstrong, hired in January as the inside linebackers coach, now leave to join Billy Napier’s staff with the Gators to fill the void left by Toney.
To follow up on this: Austin Armstrong is indeed leaving Alabama and taking the defensive coordinator job at Florida, sources tell @on3sports.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) February 22, 2023
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
As the report mentions, Armstrong was previously the defensive coordinator at Southern Miss but moved to the SEC ranks for more upward mobility. That obviously worked as he didn’t have to coach a single game before getting a bigger role within the conference.
How Saban and new Alabama defensive coordinator Kevin Steele will fill the hole left by Armstrong remains to be seen. It’s definitely tough timing for the defense, though, as the Crimson Tide begin spring practice shortly and while having to replace Henry To’o To’o in that linebacker room.
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