Florida is now three practices into spring ball, which means we are getting our first look at a brand new defensive coaching staff that includes three offseason hires and two returning assistants.
One of the returning assistants is Austin Armstrong, who is back for his second year as defensive coordinator for the Gators.
“I’ve been very impressed at the chemistry and the dynamic of this team, the job everybody associated with our team has done, from the support staff, the strength staff, recruiting staff First thing, grateful for our staff,” Armstrong said after Florida’s first three practices. “Obviously, a lot of change, and I think anytime there is change, it’s an opportunity to bring people to add value to the organization, and I think we did that. We hired great staff.”
Florida brought Auburn defensive coordinator Ron Roberts on board this offseason, who has 30+ years of coaching experience and a unique relationship with Armstrong; they both served on Louisiana’s staff in 2018.
“I think Coach Roberts is one of the best football coaches in America,” Armstrong said on Roberts. “That was not an option to add him to our team in the initial cycle. The opportunity to add somebody who is one of the best football coaches in America to our staff and collaborate with is a blessing to say the least. Our agenda here is to create the best defense in college football, and you do that by hiring smart, capable, competent people and we couldn’t have gotten anybody better than him. It’s a unique thing for me because I was the guy’s GA [graduate assistant] five years ago.”
Armstrong and Roberts have not coached the same team since their lone season together in 2018 but have stayed in constant communication over the years.
“It’s been really fun,” Armstrong said on getting to work with Roberts again. “Coach Roberts is a football savant. The ability to talk ball, work through issues, not just him our whole staff. We had a unique relationship, he was kind of like a football dad a little bit. We weren’t together after the first year, but we’d talk on the phone two or three times a week and we threw ideas against the wall with each other or had like opponents or issues.”
“It’s kind of good for me to have a guy in the trenches with you again that you have a close, personal relationship for five years. He’s made me better throughout my career and the guy doesn’t get enough credit,” Armstrong added. “A big part of our system that we managed directly from him. He’s one of the fathers of modern defensive football and to have him in this building and to have him at my right arm at all times helping us, I couldn’t be luckier.”
Roberts will serve as a mentor, not only for the players, but the young coaching staff too.
“There’s mistakes that he’s made that he’s able to guide me on to not make. And to have the humility to work together, ‘Hey, let’s do something special.’ That guidance you can’t put a price tag on. I can’t thank him enough,” Armstrong said on Roberts’ mentorship. “The thing that’s unique about it is there really wasn’t an option. You couldn’t imagine this is where we’d be sitting this time of the year, sitting with us and collaborating with us. At the end of the day, this is our defense, this is the University of Florida’s defense. He’s going to be a big part of putting together a product we all can be proud of.”