- Jun 12, 2014
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Arizona Cardinals hire away DC Patrick Toney; Austin Armstrong new DC
- Thread starter Dunder
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- Jun 5, 2014
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Along the same lines, make sure you go for the experienced hooker as well - you've got a severe case of NDS.
- Nov 18, 2015
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Fortunately the bar is kinda low for this guy. Get us into the top 50 and it’s been an improvement. My worry is that we’re gonna need a top 20 defense to be a Citrus Bowl level team this year
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- Jun 13, 2014
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Napier:
Napier shared his reaction to Toney’s departure with GO.
“First of all, Patrick, I’ve spent five years with the guy, right? He’s been a pivotal piece of our success,” Napier said of Toney. “Can’t say enough about what the guy brought to our organization and our teams. Just a very relentless worker and learner, very selfless. I’m just really happy for the guy. Ever since I’ve met the guy, he’s wanted to go to the NFL. You think about his experience as a coach. He’s a self-made guy.
“He has really went out of his way to do a ton of professional development, to expose himself to really good coaches. He’s worked at Southeastern, Sam Houston State, UTSA, Louisiana and Florida. This is a great opportunity in front of him, and he gets to chase that dream he’s always wanted to do. So, just really proud of the guy. Patrick has been as good of a coach as we’ve had, so he’s going to do great and I’m excited for him and Courtney.”
“Obviously, no one’s more critical of themselves than Patrick. We didn’t play great defense this year and we’re all aware of that,” Napier told Gators Online. “But this guy is one of the finest coaches I’ve ever been around. He’s an incredible teacher, has the respect of the players. And I’ve told people before, we’re gonna be telling stories about this guy one day. He’s that kind of guy. He’s that bright.”
Toney’s replacement will be Armstrong, who was the Southern Miss DC the last two years prior to joining Alabama’s staff in January. Armstrong and Napier’s connection goes back to Louisiana when he served as a graduate assistant on his staff in 2018 and then returned as the inside linebackers coach in 2020 after spending the 2019 season at Georgia.
Napier has had to hire a new defensive coordinator before, replacing Ron Roberts with Toney after Roberts left Louisiana for the Baylor DC job. While Napier did not address the reported hiring of Armstrong, he discussed having to a make a coordinator change at this point in the offseason.
“You know, one of the things we’ve been able to do is hire good people, and hopefully we can continue that trend,” Napier said. “I think if you looked at who’s worked for us in the past, they’re spread out and they’re all over. So, this is another example. In this game it takes a great team of people, right? I think you get put in these positions, you become even more aware of the importance of surrounding with really good people.”
Napier did confirm that his new coordinator would be officially hired and on campus before the start of spring on March 4.
“Oh yeah,” he told GO. “I think part of our job is always having contingency plans in place, knowing what the next move is. So, one thing is we’re system oriented and we’ll continue to have direction. We’re fortunate we’ve got a great group of assistants and we’ve got it built the right way where we can manage attrition. We’ve always lost 4-8 people every year. The timing is not great, but it is what it is.”
www.on3.com
Napier shared his reaction to Toney’s departure with GO.
“First of all, Patrick, I’ve spent five years with the guy, right? He’s been a pivotal piece of our success,” Napier said of Toney. “Can’t say enough about what the guy brought to our organization and our teams. Just a very relentless worker and learner, very selfless. I’m just really happy for the guy. Ever since I’ve met the guy, he’s wanted to go to the NFL. You think about his experience as a coach. He’s a self-made guy.
“He has really went out of his way to do a ton of professional development, to expose himself to really good coaches. He’s worked at Southeastern, Sam Houston State, UTSA, Louisiana and Florida. This is a great opportunity in front of him, and he gets to chase that dream he’s always wanted to do. So, just really proud of the guy. Patrick has been as good of a coach as we’ve had, so he’s going to do great and I’m excited for him and Courtney.”
“Obviously, no one’s more critical of themselves than Patrick. We didn’t play great defense this year and we’re all aware of that,” Napier told Gators Online. “But this guy is one of the finest coaches I’ve ever been around. He’s an incredible teacher, has the respect of the players. And I’ve told people before, we’re gonna be telling stories about this guy one day. He’s that kind of guy. He’s that bright.”
Napier on having to replace his DC
Toney’s replacement will be Armstrong, who was the Southern Miss DC the last two years prior to joining Alabama’s staff in January. Armstrong and Napier’s connection goes back to Louisiana when he served as a graduate assistant on his staff in 2018 and then returned as the inside linebackers coach in 2020 after spending the 2019 season at Georgia.
Napier has had to hire a new defensive coordinator before, replacing Ron Roberts with Toney after Roberts left Louisiana for the Baylor DC job. While Napier did not address the reported hiring of Armstrong, he discussed having to a make a coordinator change at this point in the offseason.
“You know, one of the things we’ve been able to do is hire good people, and hopefully we can continue that trend,” Napier said. “I think if you looked at who’s worked for us in the past, they’re spread out and they’re all over. So, this is another example. In this game it takes a great team of people, right? I think you get put in these positions, you become even more aware of the importance of surrounding with really good people.”
Napier did confirm that his new coordinator would be officially hired and on campus before the start of spring on March 4.
“Oh yeah,” he told GO. “I think part of our job is always having contingency plans in place, knowing what the next move is. So, one thing is we’re system oriented and we’ll continue to have direction. We’re fortunate we’ve got a great group of assistants and we’ve got it built the right way where we can manage attrition. We’ve always lost 4-8 people every year. The timing is not great, but it is what it is.”
Billy Napier talks Patrick Toney leaving, when his next DC will start
Florida coach Billy Napier discusses the departure of co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney and when his next DC will start.
- Jun 13, 2014
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Anyone else we want to dump on the Cardinals while we are at it? Are they in need of a basketball coach?
- Sep 4, 2014
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There’s always one of these self-loathing jackasses on Twitter. Every single team scored on us at will all season. Fans complain when your job, for which you’re being paid handsomely, is to stop that.
- Jun 24, 2014
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Tell me how being married to a virgin works out for you! Not sure why you think this guy or Mertz will pan out but here we are and for the record, I have no clue what the hell NDS is.
- Sep 4, 2014
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- Jul 15, 2014
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We screamed for years for Mullen to fire Todd, he didn't, we bitched...
We screamed for years for Mullen to be fired, he was, we celebrated.... for about 24 hours.
We hired Napier, we bitched...
He hired Toney, we pretty much bitched...
We screamed for Napier to fire Toney, he didn't, we bitched...
Toney get's hired by the Cardinals... we celebrate... for a nanosecond.
Napier hires Armstrong... we bitch
TE guy goes to Cardinals too... we say, "who was that guy anyway" in pseudo-celebrations
Napier will hire someone to replace TE guy...
Prediction when Napier hires new TE guy (or failure to hire new TE guy and just add the responsibility to an existing coach on staff): we will bitch.
Disclaimer: I'm pretty positive I missed some bitching. Any errors or omissions in/of examples of bitching are the sole responsibility of the author... it's on me, i'll do better, i'll get it fixed.
We screamed for years for Mullen to be fired, he was, we celebrated.... for about 24 hours.
We hired Napier, we bitched...
He hired Toney, we pretty much bitched...
We screamed for Napier to fire Toney, he didn't, we bitched...
Toney get's hired by the Cardinals... we celebrate... for a nanosecond.
Napier hires Armstrong... we bitch
TE guy goes to Cardinals too... we say, "who was that guy anyway" in pseudo-celebrations
Napier will hire someone to replace TE guy...
Prediction when Napier hires new TE guy (or failure to hire new TE guy and just add the responsibility to an existing coach on staff): we will bitch.
Disclaimer: I'm pretty positive I missed some bitching. Any errors or omissions in/of examples of bitching are the sole responsibility of the author... it's on me, i'll do better, i'll get it fixed.
- Jul 29, 2014
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Good riddance. Toney never should have been hired in the first place. A 33 y/o wet-behind-the-ears DC from the Sun Belt handed the keys to the defense of a program that should be competing for SEC and National Championships? I guess the only thing smarter to do is roll the dice on a 29 y/o DC from the Sun Belt and hope for different results
- Jun 11, 2014
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- Jun 5, 2014
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Napier Derangement Syndrome.
And Mertz is going to do far more than "pan out" - he's winning the friggin' Heisman Trophy.
- Jul 15, 2014
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- Jun 12, 2014
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While I'm not excited about the new DC, I'm going to reserve my criticism until after the season. It does seem risky, but I get the positives. Worked under and learned from Kirby for a year, has a couple years experience as a coordinator, already has a good working relationship with Napier, and probably has some really good qualities if Saban wanted him for a position coach and Napier is willing to roll the dice with this. I'm surprised he's not a co-dc with someone. Hope it works out.
