DJ Lagway shows confidence after Florida opts to retain Billy Napier for 2025

Florida shocked the college football world Thursday when they announced they had committed to Billy Napier for 2025. It was a shock because a month ago, Napier seemed closer to leaving Gainesville than staying there.

And one person who couldn’t be happier that Napier is back is Florida quarterback DJ Laway. He took to social media to express how happy he was that the coach who recruited him would be back next season.

It backs up Pete Thamel’s report following the news of Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin releasing the statement that Lagway was strongly aligned with Napier. It appears that Laway played the key role in Napier’s rebuilding of the Florida football team.

A few notes on bringing Napier back to Florida.
According to ESPN sources, 70 percent of Florida’s NIL money is in freshmen and sophomores. There is a sense within the program that freshman QB DJ Lagway is on par with Napier, and Napier can grow this core of young players. pic.twitter.com/SwKdmNSbKd

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 7, 2024

Napier didn’t lose the locker room like we all thought and he certainly didn’t let this team down. Thamel said 70 percent of the school’s NIL funding is tied to freshmen and sophomores, which means the school wants to be patient and they believe Napier is the best person to turn things around.

With Lagway backing his coach, you can’t help but be excited about what Florida will look like next season when Lagway is fully healthy and Napier can focus on football without having to worry about getting the nod.

DJ Lagoway approves the decision pic.twitter.com/ERCCq8ycLw

— Florida Recruits (@FLRecruits) November 7, 2024

When Napier finally committed to Lagway after he and Graham Mertz split time at center at the start of the season, we saw exactly how talented Lagway could be. He led the Gators to a close win over Tennessee and was on his way to leading them to a win over Georgia before he was taken off with a hamstring injury.

This season, Lagway has more than 1,000 passing yards with six touchdowns and five interceptions. He is as good as advertised as a former five-star prospect. From the way he has played this season, I understand why Florida may have been hesitant to part ways with Napier.

Lagway being such a Napier supporter could have prompted him and a few other young players in this team to enter the transfer portal and follow him wherever he ended up.

This appears to be the moment that the air could clear, not only on Napier’s position against Florida, but also on the respect the team still has for him.