New coordinators finally in place for Houston football
Over the weekend, Houston football coach Willie Fritz officially hired a new defensive coordinator.
Austin Armstrong, who had been in the same role the past two seasons at Florida, was brought on board by Fritz. Armstrong replaces Shiel Wood, who left earlier this month to become the new defensive coordinator at Texas Tech.
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In his first season at Florida, Armstrong’s unit ranked No. 6 in the nation in fourth-down conversion defense (.308) and No. 11 nationally in first downs defense (212). He also helped the Gators make a significant jump from No. 128 to No. 35 in third-down conversion defense (.356).
This season, Armstrong - who split defensive coordinator duties with Ron Roberts - helped the Gators finish in the Top 25 nationally in five different categories. They were seventh in sacks per game (3.17) and fumble recoveries (11), 12th in red zone defense (.737), 16th in turnovers gained (22) and 24th in tackles for loss per game (6.8).
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Before arriving at Florida, Armstrong spent two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Southern Miss. In that span, the Golden Eagles were No. 4 nationally in defensive TDs (8) and No. 15 in interceptions (15).
He also spent several seasons at the University of Louisiana and in 2019, was the defensive quality control coach at Georgia.
Armstrong’s hiring comes on the heels of Houston hiring a new offensive coordinator. Slade Nagle, who worked with Fritz when the latter was head coach at Tulane, was brought on board after spending this season as the tight ends coach/special teams coordinator at LSU.
