Cole Pepper
The upcoming football season is a pivotal one for the Florida Gators, in particular for head coach Billy Napier.
After back-to-back seven-loss seasons, Napier guided Florida to an 8-5 record last year, including a victory in the Gasparilla Bowl, the school’s first bowl win since 2019. But expectations are higher this year, particularly with one of the nation’s top quarterbacks, DJ Lagway, back for his sophomore season.
“When we talk about expectation, I think the important part is what we expect from each other,” Napier said this week at SEC Media Days in Atlanta.
“We see each other every day. I think this is player to player, it’s coach to player, coach to coach, all parts of our organization. So that’s where we spend our focus. I really believe that’s when the magic happens.”
The Gators will need the magic to translate to wins on the field. After opening the season against Long Island University on Aug. 30, Florida hosts USF the following Saturday. They then face a challenging stretch of schedule, including road games at LSU and Miami and a home game on Oct. 4 against playoff semifinalists Texas.
Lagway showed flashes of brilliance last season as a true freshman. Entering this season, he is expected to be among the nation’s best quarterbacks. The Athletic ranked him No. 5 at the position entering the season.
“What’s impressed me with DJ is how he has handled success,” Napier said.
“We knew DJ before he dominated Texas high school football his senior year. He became the Gatorade National Player of the Year. So, seeing the humility, seeing how he treated people, how he embraced his role in that community on that team, the steadiness, I think his parents obviously provided a great example there. But he did the same things last year as he started to have a bigger role on the team.”
In 12 games in 2024, Lagway threw 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Those aren’t eye-popping numbers, but considering it was his true freshman season and there was no experienced top talent at the receiver position, it bodes well for his future.
“I would say the most challenging thing was really just time management, going from being in high school and then going to SEC, big-time college football, it’s a big difference,” Lagway said.
“Especially where I’m from a little town, Willis, Texas, it’s a big difference. Once I got adjusted to that and adjusted to knowing the offense and knowing where my people were at, that’s why I’m excited for this year, because I know where my people are at. Now I can know where the defense is at and get better at that.”
Although Florida enjoyed an improved season in 2024, there is still pressure on Napier to return the team to the level of a national title contender. With 12 playoff spots now available, it is a potential reality.
“It’s one of those things, we had a huge mindset shift in the locker room,” said All-American center Jake Slaughter. “A lot of guys stepped up into a leadership role that maybe they weren’t in before. We called it a one-day contract type of mentality. Guys really shifted the way they thought and approached practice and the weights, and the training room. It was a tremendous change and a big mindset shift.”
Napier’s seat may not be hot, but it is warm. He will have a more experienced team to rely on this season.
“One of the great things about this 2025 team that we have is we have a lot of football players that have leadership traits,” Napier said.
“We got some guys that have been through some battles. They have experience. It was tough to pick three guys to be here today. We got a lot of guys that are deserving. And I really believe that’s the most crucial ingredient when you start talking about having a great team, the character of the players that are leading the team. And I think we have that with this group.”
