{"id":13352,"date":"2025-10-21T03:06:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T03:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/13352\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T03:06:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T03:06:14","slug":"dj-lagway-on-future-after-billy-napier-firing-im-a-florida-gator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/13352\/","title":{"rendered":"DJ Lagway on future after Billy Napier firing: ‘I’m a Florida Gator’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida<\/a> fans have been openly wondering about the future of quarterback DJ Lagway<\/a> since the school\u2019s administration fired head coach Billy Napier<\/a> on Sunday. On Monday, the sophomore QB reassured fans of his love for Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a Florida Gator, man,\u201d Lagway said<\/a>. \u201cMy biggest focus right now is these five games and continuing to better my craft and continuing to develop as a player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lagway was the No. 1 quarterback in the 2024 recruiting cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Rankings<\/a>, and the highest-ranked recruit of Napier\u2019s tenure. After beginning his freshman season as Florida\u2019s backup, he was named the team\u2019s QB1 after Graham Mertz<\/a> suffered a season-ending injury.<\/p>\n

Lagway didn\u2019t waste his opportunity. He tallied 1,915 passing yards and 12 touchdowns in the 2024 campaign, compared to nine interceptions. He also recorded 50 carries for 101 rushing yards. Florida posted a 6-1 record with Lagway as its starting QB.<\/p>\n

Lagway battled injuries this offseason and, in turn, had a slow start this fall. Criticism toward Lagway reached its peak when he threw five interceptions in Florida\u2019s Week 3 loss to LSU<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the former five-star prospect has gradually turned things around this season. In Florida\u2019s last three games, Lagway has logged a combined 823 passing yards and four touchdowns, while throwing three interceptions.<\/p>\n

Despite Lagway\u2019s improved play, Florida has been unable to stack wins. The Gators are 3-4 and starting from scratch after firing Billy Napier.<\/p>\n

Napier was in his fourth season at Florida. He finished his time in Gainesville with a 22-23 overall record and a 12-16 mark in conference play. After the news of Napier\u2019s firing surfaced, Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin released a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe standards and expectations for Gators football are to win championships \u2014 not simply to compete,\u201d Stricklin wrote.<\/a> \u201cWe exist to win, and will not settle for less.\u00a0 UF has never been more invested in the success of this football program \u2013 elite facilities, robust NIL opportunities and comprehensive support for our student athletes and staff \u2013 than we are today.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe University of Florida is a destination \u2013 a place where people come to achieve excellence. \u00a0With our resources, passionate fan base, and unwavering commitment, we are determined to return Gators football to championship form.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps DJ Lagway will play a role in Florida\u2019s return to prominence. The Gators have a bye this week and will resume play with a showdown against Georgia<\/a> on Nov. 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida fans have been openly wondering about the future of quarterback DJ Lagway since the school\u2019s administration fired…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[10595,11892,28,30,29],"class_list":["post-13352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-billy-napier-99-murray-county","tag-dj-lagway-24-willis","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}