New Florida DC Austin Armstrong is Gators' highest-paid assistant, averaging $1.2 million annually

The Florida Gators have a new highest-paid assistant on coach Billy Napier‘s staff, as he reassembled his coaching roster prior to the 2023 season following a number of moves. Defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong now owns that honor.

According to a report from the Orlando Sentinel, Armstrong signed a three-year contract worth $3.6 million.

His $1.2 million average annual salary tops that of previous defensive coordinator Patrick Toney, who made $1.0 million annually before leaving this offseason for the Arizona Cardinals. Florida’s two other new assistants aren’t making nearly as much.

New receivers coach Billy Gonzales will make $500,000 annually on a two-year contract, while tight ends coach Russ Callaway will earn $300,000 annually on a two-year deal.

Austin Armstrong arrives at Florida after briefly being hired to coach Alabama‘s inside linebackers following a two-year run at Southern Miss.

The Florida job was simply too attractive to pass up, with Armstrong making the jump shortly after being hired by Nick Saban. He’ll have his work cut out for him in Gainesville.

Florida’s defense has been historically bad for the last two seasons and significantly below par for the last three.

The shoddy defensive performances might have been the death knell for former coach Dan Mullen, who allowed defensive coordinator Todd Grantham the opportunity to fix the issue after a shaky 2020, only to watch a disastrous 2021 season unfold.

Toney’s attempted fix in Year 1 under Napier was an equal failure.

Florida finished the 2022 season ranked 83rd nationally in passing defense, 86th in scoring defense, 96th in total defense and 99th in rushing defense. The Gators gave up a whopping 28.8 points and 411.0 yards per game.

Austin Armstrong is a well-regarded young assistant, but he doesn’t have a lengthy track record.

Prior to taking the Alabama job and then jumping for Florida shortly after, Armstrong spent two years as Southern Miss’ defensive coordinator, from 2021-22.

Before that, Armstrong served on Napier’s staff at Louisiana as the team’s inside linebackers coach in 2020. He spent the 2019 season at Georgia as a defensive quality control coach. Prior to Georgia he worked at Louisiana as a defensive graduate assistant in 2017 and 2018.

Armstrong’s first coaching stint came in 2016, when he was an assistant defensive line coach at West Georgia.