The Florida Gators’ decision to fire head coach Billy Napier on Sunday naturally creates plenty of uncertainty around the future of the program. However, on Monday, Florida quarterback DJ Lagway made it incredibly clear that he is committed to the program moving forward regardless of who is the next head coach.
Lagway came to the Florida program with a ton of hype as the No. 3 high school recruit in the 2024 recruiting class, according to 247 Sports. Unfortunately, thus far, Lagway has shown some flashes of solid play, but more flashes of inconsistency when it comes to costly turnovers that have gone a long way in Florida currently sitting at 3-4 on the season.
Given the fact that Lagway is just a true sophomore, there is still plenty of time for the former top recruit to turn things around and carve out a great collegiate career, and potentially even a great professional career down the road.
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As to whether that will be at the University of Florida now that Napier, the coach that recruited him, is no longer at the program, Lagway provided some insight into his future in Gainesville while speaking to media members on Monday.
“I’m a Florida Gator, man,” Lagway told reporters. “My biggest focus right now is these five games and continuing to better my craft and continuing to develop as a player.”
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While this isn’t a definitive statement that Lagway will for sure be returning to Florida in 2026, he clearly views himself as a Florida Gator, regardless of who is coaching him.
With that in mind, the remaining five games on the Gators’ schedule will certainly be quite important for Lagway if he wants to stay at Florida to try and impress the next coach of the program.
After a Week 9 bye, Florida will face some stiff competition throughout the remainder of their schedule, with matchups against numerous ranked SEC opponents, including Georgia in Week 10, Ole Miss in Week 12, and Tennessee in Week 13.
Chances are, whoever does ultimately end up being the head coach of the Gators in 2026 will likely be paying close attention to Lagway in these tough matchups upcoming to see whether he is the starting quarterback of the future at Florida, or whether they would rather go in a different direction.
So it will sure be interesting to see whether Lagway can give the next head coach a good reason to keep him around.
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