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GAINESVILLE — Florida defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong can look back on the rapid decline of his D with a healthy dose of humility and even a touch of humor.
“When you’re young and you’re successful, you’re Boy Wonder,” he said following Tuesday’s practice. “When you’re not, you’re boy blunder.”
The Gators’ fall from a top-10 unit in September to a sieve by season’s end still haunts the 30-year-old.
“It makes me sick that we couldn’t finish for these players,” he said. “I think about it a lot.”
UF held Arkansas in check until the fourth quarter of an overtime loss in the Swamp, limited Missouri to seven first-half points during a 33-31 loss on a last-second field goal and even contained LSU’s Heisman-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels for a spell until the Tigers turned on the afterburners to gain 701 yards — the most ever gained against the Gators.
“You can just name them off,” he said. “At the end of the day, that’s my responsibility.”
Entering the second week of spring practices, Armstrong has reasons for optimism, beginning with an overhauled staff. The late addition of veteran coach Ron Roberts to join new secondary coach Will Harris and defensive line coach Gerald Chatman reunites Armstrong with one of his mentors.
Armstrong was a graduate assistant at Louisiana under current Gators coach Billy Napier when Roberts was the Ragin’ Cajuns defensive coordinator in 2018. The two kept in close touch as each moved around to different schools and roles.
“We had a unique relationship; he was kind of like a football dad a little bit,” Armstrong said Tuesday. “You couldn’t imagine this is where we’d be sitting this time of the year, sitting with us and collaborating with us.”
The two men will share the role of coordinator, responsibilities and a single-minded…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/boy-wonder-boy-blunder-uf-100000227.html
Author : Orlando Sentinel
Publish date : 2024-03-21 10:00:00
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