Alabama is expected to hire Southern Miss defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong to its on-field defensive coaching staff, ESPN reported Friday evening.

Armstrong spent one season in 2019 as a defensive quality control coach for Kirby Smart at Georgia. He coached Southern Miss’ inside linebackers in addition to his defensive coordinator duties the past two seasons.

FootballScoop.com reported earlier Friday that Armstrong was a “strong candidate” to join Alabama’s staff. His expected hire comes as Alabama defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach Pete Golding is set to join Ole Miss’ staff as defensive coordinator.

Armstrong played linebacker at Division III’s Huntingdon College in Montgomery, graduating in 2014. He served as assistant defensive line coach at Division II’s West Georgia in 2016, then was hired by Mark Hudspeth as a defensive graduate assistant for Louisiana in 2017. He was retained by Billy Napier in 2018, and re-hired as the Rajun Cajuns’ inside linebackers coach in 2020 after his stint at Georgia.

In addition to filling Golding’s vacancy at defensive coordinator, Alabama also has an opening at safeties coach after Charles Kelly’s departure to Colorado.

Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.