DJ Lagway: The Lifeline of Florida's Football Team (2025)

Nobody’s seat in college football is hotter than Sun Belt’s very own Billy Napier’s right now, and Florida fans can smell the prophecy from Gainesville to Tallahassee. Four weeks of college football, the Gators have gone from a preseason No. 15 ranking to looking like some D2 elite program. Embarrassing collapse against unranked South Florida? Check. Their blowout loss to Mario Crisbotal’s No. 2 ranked Miami? Final hit on coffin. And let’s not even revisit that LSU meltdown. But despite all that chaos, Napier is still in charge, and the one reason he hasn’t been kicked to the curb yet has everything to do with a teenager: DJ Lagway.

Florida’s season started with a 55–0 cupcake win over Long Island, the type of scoreline that fools no one. Since then, it’s been straight downhill: an 18–16 loss to USF, a 20–10 beatdown at LSU, and the 26–7 humiliation at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. That last one was historic — the Gators put up only 32 total yards in the first half, their worst start since 1986, and only had 1 first down in entire half. Corey Hetherman literally had Gators under his palms. Napier, sitting at 20–22 in his 4th year, has been exposed by SEC rivals, going 3–12 against Florida’s biggest enemies. If he didn’t have Lagway, he’d already be another name in the fired-coach graveyard.

So why hasn’t the trigger been pulled? Enter John Talty. On the College Football Insider Podcast, Talty straightaway explained why firing Billy Napier right now (bye week) would backfire: “But the other piece of it is that, especially right now, guys can redshirt if they want to. And so I just think that it makes sense, because it’s a bye week, but if you say pull the plug… it would seem to make sense to hold on another week or two.” Translation: fire Napier now, and you risk losing the only reason this team still matters — DJ Lagway. According to the NCAA, D1 athletes can red-shirt even after playing 4 games or 5 games into the season. Look, if Napier goes, Lagway could redshirt, pack up, and watch the season from the sidelines. That’s the doomsday button.

Lagway hasn’t exactly lit up the field — he missed spring ball, got dinged up in fall camp, and looks like a rookie quarterback learning how fast SEC defenses really are. Still, he’s the jewel of Florida’s rebuild, the guy fans were promised would bring back the glory days. Taking Napier out mid-season risks shattering that fragile trust. Talty doubled down: “You can maybe do it on the second bye later in the season, just because if you fire Billy Napier today, does DJ Lagway say I’m red shirting, I’m out of here, you start losing guys, and then it gets really, really ugly down the stretch.” Translation again: ugly can get uglier.

And it’s not like Florida’s schedule is forgiving. According to ESPN and other outlets, the Gators have one of the top three most brutal schedules in the nation. Florida can’t risk it now. The Gators are staring down a gauntlet with No. 10 Texas, No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 5 Georgia, No. 13 Ole Miss, No. 15 Tennessee, and No. 8 Florida State still waiting. Mississippi State and Kentucky are the only so-called “breathers.” One misstep, one more humiliation, and Florida could sink to historic lows. But making the wrong move too early — chopping Napier before there’s a plan — could blow the whole locker room apart. If Billy Napier fails to win a game heading into the second bye week of the season, that would be the perfect time to cut the ties.

DJ Lagway promises to improve

After Florida’s offense flatlined against Miami — 141 total yards, zero-for-13 on third down, their worst outing since the late ’90s — Lagway stood in front of reporters and did something his coach couldn’t: he owned it. “It’s been hard, but let me tell y’all something, we’re going to get things changed, for sure. I can guarantee that. This is not acceptable at all… it starts with me.”

That’s leadership talk, but the numbers tell a grim story. Against Miami, Lagway went 12-of-23 for 61 yards. According to ESPN Research, his 12 completions actually netted negative-three air yards — most of his throws were behind the line of scrimmage. The week before, LSU feasted on him for five interceptions. For a guy who led Florida to a 6-1 record last season, this fall from grace feels like a big slap back to reality.

Still, Lagway isn’t hiding. After admitting, “I didn’t play my best ball tonight… I didn’t make a lot of big plays,” he flipped the tone with urgency: “I’m going to demand greatness from everybody. We’re done with the playing around stuff. It’s time to get serious. It starts with me.” Napier and Lagway have pointed to injuries and missed time as reasons for the slow start, but excuses don’t win games in the SEC. Florida fans don’t want explanations; they want fireworks. And Lagway knows it. Whether that translates against No. 8 Texas and No. 10 Texas A&M in back-to-back weeks? That’s the real test. The bye week couldn’t have come at a better time.