Career day at Sumter Academy was more like an audition for third-grader Austin Armstrong.
The Alabama native wanted to be a football coach when he grew up; he wanted it to be in the SEC; and, of course, he wanted to coach a winner.
In an act akin to treason in the tiny town of York, located an hour southwest of Tuscaloosa, Armstrong showed up at school wearing a blue visor, an orange polo shirt and a battered headset “like truckers wear,” he recalled.
Armstrong also showcased the swagger of idol Steve Spurrier, whose Florida Gators were humming while Alabama’s Crimson Tide were stumbling.
“I’m not just saying this, but I fell in love with Steve Spurrier,” Florida’s new defensive coordinator told the Sentinel. “His approach, being outspoken and stuff like that … I just thought he was awesome.”
Times have changed in the SEC, but Armstrong has stayed the course.
The fast-rising, high-energy, visor-wearing 29-year-old now finds himself helping the struggling Gators — five head coaches and two decades removed from Spurrier — close the gap in a league Alabama dominated for more than a decade until Georgia’s recent run.
In another unexpected twist, Armstrong left Tuscaloosa after just two months with Nick Saban’s dynasty to join Billy Napier’s rebuild in Gainesville.
When Armstrong first caught the coaching bug as a kid, he didn’t realize drawing up ball plays would demand a nomadic lifestyle rife with difficult life choices. UF is the seventh and most substantive stop of his fledgling career, but one that did not surprise those in the know — despite Armstrong’s youth.
“It’s pretty common knowledge in professional circles that Austin Armstrong was a rising star,” Auburn defensive coordinator Ron Roberts, who worked at Louisiana from 2018-19, told the Sentinel. “Most coaches recognize that a lot more than the fans would.”
Meteoric rise
Armstrong has been on the fast track since he graduated from Division III Huntingdon College in Montgomery.
He joined head coach Will Hall at West Georgia in 2016 to help coach defensive line, left for a similar role for Napier at Louisiana-Lafayette in 2017-18, spent a season as a defensive quality control coach with Kirby Smart at Georgia in 2019 and rejoined Napier in 2020 to coach inside linebackers. Hall hired Armstrong at Southern Miss, making him the nation’s youngest defensive coordinator in 2021.
But Jan. 13, on the heels of two successful seasons with the Golden Eagles, Armstrong left to coach inside linebackers at Alabama.
He arrived with a heavy heart. Ruth Armstrong, his mother, died Sept. 14 at 59 from COVID-19 complications.
When Napier needed to replace Patrick Toney after his Feb. 22 departure for the NFL and with spring practice 10 days away, Florida’s second-year coach asked Armstrong to choose the Gators over family proximity in the wake of tragedy and a school every red-blooded south Alabaman placed on a pedestal.
“I might as well have a script ‘A’ on my butt. That’s the culture you grew up in,” Armstrong said. “You’re there and you’re working for the greatest coach ever. Your mother passes away. Your brother and his wife are there, your dad lives 45 minutes away. It’s a Disney freaking script.
“Then you’re in two months, and you get a chance to be the defensive coordinator at Florida on the front end of a seven-year, $50 million contract [for Napier]. What are you supposed to do? It’s the first time in my career and in my life that really there was no wrong decision.”
Armstrong arrived like a whirlwind meaning business.
“The first thing that came to me when I walked in that room that first day is we have to get the mentality of playing defense at Florida,” Armstrong said. “I can remember Brandon Spikes tackling Knowshon Moreno.”
Spikes’ violent hit to open Florida’s 2008 rout of Georgia harkens to the program’s halcyon days Napier was hired to rekindle.
Armstrong received a 3-year, $3.6 million contract to vastly improve a 2022 defense that allowed opponents to convert 49.71% on third down, ranking 129th nationally among 131 teams, and recorded just 23 sacks, tied for the fewest since 2017’s 4-win season.
Armstrong pushes to lead a turnaround with a refreshing, high-octane approach.
“He brings fire and energy to the team,” fourth-year linebacker Derek Wingo said. “That’s something we need. We need somebody to get after us. Everyone is going to mess up and make mistakes. He’s going to get after you and make sure that you are corrected in the things that you messed up and that’s going to make us a better defense and make us play together.
“It shows he cares a lot.”
Average player. Exceptional mind.
Armstrong had to exert maximum effort and dig into the details to survive as a slow-footed, 200-pound linebacker. He also had no illusions at Huntingdon College, where he aimed to follow in the footsteps of Mike Shanahan, not Mike Singletary.
“He wasn’t a great player,” Huntington coach Mike Turk told the Sentinel. “He was a solid player that knew what to do, just wasn’t as blessed athletically as some of the other guys. You could put him in the game and not worry about him because he was going to be where he was supposed to be, doing what he was supposed to do.”
Spending most of his career behind Hawks star Zach Brownell, who became USA South Athletic Conference defensive player of the year, Armstrong started a few games and played special teams.
“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Turk said.
Meanwhile, Armstrong’s timing has been virtually impeccable during his coaching career.
“Every move has been a bit of a leap forward,” Roberts said. “Never did I think he made a lateral move. They were pretty easy decisions. They’re all tremendous opportunities for him to grow. Same thing with this one.”
This time, Armstrong must validate Napier’s faith and a seven-figure salary by resurrecting a side of football in serious decline the past three seasons.
Florida went from historically bad in 2020 to extremely average in 2021. Under Toney, the Gators took another step back.
Many pointed to Toney’s age (32) and inexperience at the Power 5 level, knocks on Armstrong upon his expeditious Feb. 27 hiring. Yet, players notice a difference.
“A lot of energy,” tackle Tyreak Sapp said. “You don’t want a low-energy DC. You need somebody that can be that every day because you’re not going to be like that every day, but you have a little firecracker as a DC. He’s always ready to pop.”
Armstrong, who coached three seasons with Toney at Louisiana, has not made a schematic overhaul as much as an attitude adjustment. Defensive success requires effort as much as X’s and O’s mastery.
“We have to play with physicality and we’ve got to play with a relentless effort,” he said. “Those are all controllable. That has nothing to do with scheme, it has nothing to do with talent. I know that sounds like a bunch of coachspeak, but every great defense regardless of it’s ’85 Bears, it’s Georgia last year, it’s the Ravens, they ran and they hit.
“We’re going to mess up. But you erase that by playing your ass off and punishing the ball carrier.”
Armstrong’s Southern Miss defenses forced 45 turnovers in two seasons and in 2022 ranked sixth nationally in red-zone defense and seventh in defensive touchdowns.
The Gators displayed newfound aggressiveness during the April 13 spring game, a 10-7 snoozer highlighted by 14 tackles for loss, including 9 sacks, and 11 quarterback hurries.
‘A different kind of cat’
Going forward, Florida’s line is deeper and heftier, beginning with Memphis transfer Cam Jackson (6-6, 355) — one of seven newcomers up front. Lineman Kelby Collins and cornerback Ja’Keem Jackson, top-50 recruits, headlined a defensive-minded 2023 class. Veteran edge rusher Princely Umanmielen is poised to break out after recording a team-high 9.5 tackles for loss while sophomore linebacker Shemar James’ 47 stops are most among returners.
The Gators’ secondary has the talent to be elite again, beginning with third-year cornerback Jason Marshall.
Armstrong will put the pieces together with ample input from a veteran staff.
Secondary coach Corey Raymond has worked with some of the nation’s best defensive backs at LSU; line coach Sean Spencer had successful stints at Penn State and in the NFL; inside linebackers coach Jay Bateman is former defensive coordinator at North Carolina; and Gators legend Mike Peterson, who coaches edge players, had 1,220 tackles in the NFL playing the same position Armstrong did in college.
“Coach Spencer’s old as dirt, I don’t know how old he is,” Armstrong said of the 52-year-old. “It’s funny you’re talking to coaches and you’re like, ‘Yes sir.’”
Armstrong will not shy away from delivering marching orders, either.
“I don’t have a problem making a decision,” he said. “I try to keep everybody included as much as possible. But coach Napier’s has given me a responsibility and a job to do to reinforce his values and principles. I do it every day. I’m big on feedback. I give everybody a voice. It ain’t always pass the baton, Kumbaya, but people mess up in leadership when they say that ‘I know everything.’
“I’m not walking around looking over my shoulder every five seconds. We have to get a result.”
Much of Florida’s defensive success in Armstrong’s first season will hinge on his players’ commitment.
To have any success as a player, he milked every ounce out of his ability and asked every question that came to mind.
“You could tell right away there was a different level to what he wanted to know,” Turk, his college coach, recalled. “He took it very seriously. Exit interviews at the end of each year are usually 10 to 15 minutes with most guys. His was going to be 30 minutes because he was going to ask 41 questions while he was there.
“He just wanted to know more.”
The Gators could use a similar level of ownership, passion and inquisitiveness as they try to silence naysayers in 2023.
Leading the way with a callow, cherubic coordinator with a glowing resumé, a healthy dose of confidence and the validation he belongs.
“There’s so many people that pursue the profession that don’t reach that level,” Turk said. “He’s done it so quickly that it’s uncommon. The percentages say that it’s not going to happen that way. But at the same time, we’re talking about a different kind of cat here.”
That was clear when Austin Armstrong channeled Steve Spurrier in the heart of Crimson Tide territory. Two decades later, Armstrong will achieve his destiny and don the orange and blue on the sideline of the Swamp for real.
“I’m a person of faith,” he said. “There’s a lot of people that probably deserved this opportunity more than I do. That’s OK. I’m not scared to say that.
“But for whatever reason, the good Lord gave me favor. I’m not planning on wasting it.”
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com
