Lagway: Talk of Napier being on hot seat motivated Florida's late surge
Quarterback DJ Lagway believes Florida's late-season surge last year was fueled by talk of head coach Billy Napier being on the hot seat.
"That was definitely motivation because I feel like they were disrespecting our coach and disrespecting us, genuinely," Lagway said during an appearance on "Outta Pocket with RGIII."
"But I feel like, at the end, we kind of pulled it all together and figured it out," Lagway added. "Hopefully, we can put that momentum to the 2025 season."
Napier entered the 2024 season with plenty of speculation about his long-term future after posting a 5-7 record in 2023. The Gators then began the season 4-5, including a season-opening blowout loss to in-state rivals Miami and back-to-back defeats to Georgia and Texas.
However, athletic director Scott Stricklin announced Nov. 7 that Napier would remain in his role with talk about the coach's future reaching a fever pitch.
Florida rallied around its head coach, defeating LSU, Ole Miss, and Florida State to close out the regular season. Napier then led his squad to a 33-8 blowout victory over Tulane in the Gasparilla Bowl to cap the program's first winning season since 2020.
Lagway displayed plenty of promise during his freshman campaign, passing for 1,915 yards, 12 touchdowns, and nine interceptions with a 154.9 passer rating. He made his first collegiate start against Samford in early September before assuming the full-time starting role in October after Graham Mertz tore his ACL versus Tennessee.
Aidan Mizell and Eugene Wilson III are among the notable wideout holdovers with Elijhah Badger and Chimere Dike turning pro. The Gators also acquired transfer receiver J. Michael Sturdivant.
Florida will open the 2025 season against LIU on Aug. 30.