Florida's New Coach Has A Chance To Turn DJ Lagway Into A Monster, Or Another Lesson On NIL Risks

Florida quarterback DJ Lagway needs a change of scenery, and that doesn’t mean moving out of Gainesville to get it. 

Coming off a weekend that saw the talented QB benched during the Kentucky game, it seems as though a tumultuous offseason has finally caught up with the gunslinger. 

Let's be honest, what did you expect from a quarterback who did not throw a football until a week before SEC Media Days in July? For as much talent as the young man has, there is a lot that goes into changing his entire throwing motion, along with recovering from a surgery that put a tremendous amount of pressure on him as the 2025 season rapidly approached.

This entire ordeal had problems written all over it, even if some wanted to put him in the preseason Heisman conversation. 

When Billy Napier mentioned back at SEC Spring meetings that Lagway was throwing three times a week, it wasn't as if he was tossing balls to his teammates. He was more or less tossing it like you would in the backyard to a friend. 

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A slow progression, which was a mixture of pain and re-tooling his mechanics through technology led to him not truly participating with his Florida receiving crew until fall camp started. 

That's a long offseason of trying to recover the magic we all witnessed over the second half of the 2024 season. 

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Sure, there are plenty of doubters inside the Florida fanbase about whether the young man can lead this football team into the future. 

As one person I spoke with over the weekend noted, he has a lot of raw talent that still needs to be developed. 

Talking to multiple sources, they expect Lagway to return next season to continue his growth, and the financial situation benefits him as well. 

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But, Scott Stricklin had better not go hire a defensive coach who has no idea about developing a quarterback, and I'm not just implying the head coach position. 

The problem is that when you are getting paid the amount of money Lagway is through NIL and revenue-sharing, folks expect immediate results. But, it takes time, even if there is a large check being deposited into his account on a monthly basis. 

In no way am I trying to compare him to Arch Manning, but we've seen how long it has taken the Texas quarterback to find himself in the Longhorns offense. 

For Lagway, the best thing for him is to have Lane Kiffin accept the Florida job, and then spend seven months preparing him for the 2026 season. 

Oh, and it's not as if there are a plethora of college football teams needing a 5-star fix right now at the quarterback position, who has plenty of baggage that has nothing to do with anything happening off the field. When you have a healthy relationship with folks around Gainesville, it also makes the decision to stick around a lot easier. 

And, when you are making the type of money he's making in Florida, it's also hard to walk away from that sort of deal, even with potential suitors calling about a trip to the portal. 

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Even if he personally was tired of the pushback from Florida fans, he has a group of family members that are supporting his journey in Gainesville, and not looking for a way out to reset his college clock at a different school. 

Either way, he's going to be learning a new offense when the remnants of Billy Napier's staff leave town for jobs that are nowhere near the caliber of Florida. 

As for the 2025 season, he could use more practice, which is why interim coach Billy Conzalez noted that Lagway would enter the Ole Miss week as QB-1. 

Right now, my mind is he’s going to take one-reps when we go out to practice today," interim Billy Gonzales said on Monday. "But again, I say competition is great for everybody."

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Florida's Next Coach Has A Chance To Turn DJ Lagway Into The QB We All Thought He Could Be. Maybe Kiffin? (Photo by Chris Leduc/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Absolutely, competition is better for everyone involved, but that doesn't mean Lagway is going to bolt into the transfer portal once the Gators season comes to an end. 

He's had some bad games, but when you are as talented as Lagway and the coaches see it, you don't just throw in the towel. And, it's not as if this coaching staff is going to be around next season, so a fresh start might do the young man some good. 

In regard to his benching on Saturday against Kentucky, interim coach Billy Gonzalez used a baseball reference to describe the decision. 

"If a pitcher’s struggling in the major leagues, what do you do? You get the next guy in, right?" Billy Gonzales said Monday. "It doesn’t mean that he’s not a great pitcher. Just means that wasn’t his day. For some reason or another, it wasn’t breaking. For some reason or another, he didn’t have the day that he wanted to have.

"I talked to him about that. I said, ‘So, you’re a great player, but I’m not going to let somebody just continue to struggle. I wanted to bring you out and let you refocus, let you gather, let you learn, and hopefully it’s a learning experience. It’s going to make you better this week when we prepare for Ole Miss.’"

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Who knows, maybe Lagway comes out against Ole Miss and impresses his potential new coach, Lane Kiffin. Maybe, just maybe, if Florida strikes out on Kiffin, and tries to hire some defensive coach, a decision about Lagway's future in Florida would be discussed more. 

Right now, you have a young quarterback who is trying to fix certain problems. Sounds like someone a number of pundits thought would be a Heisman Trophy candidate after the first game of the season against Ohio State. 

I know it's all about ‘what have you done for me lately’ in this era of college athletics, especially with the amount of money being paid out. 

But, there are plenty of folks around the Florida football program who think DJ Lagway will turn into the quarterback some thought he would be this season. 

I would imagine an offseason without surgeries, along with an offensive-minded coach who can actually develop a quarterback will do the young man good. I know a lot of people around the Gators program hope that the next QB whisperer is currently preparing for the Gators defense.