Sep 11: Florida football is at a crossroads. Can DJ Lagway save the Gators again?
Article credit: Matt Baker
Judging by the number of phone calls his family received, DJ Lagway could have transferred to any of the high school football powers in talent-rich Houston instead of sticking with Willis, an also-ran that hadn’t won a district title in more than two decades.
Lagway never considered it. He wanted the hard road.
“Listen,” said his mom, Niki, “my son loves an underdog story.”
Like transforming Willis from a 2-8 team his freshman year into district champions as a senior. Or the even bigger one now facing him and the Florida Gators.
Last week’s 18-16 home loss to USF reheated the seat of head coach Billy Napier two games into his fourth season and renewed questions about the direction of a program 17 years removed from its last SEC championship. To make matters worse, the Gators’ schedule is one of the toughest in the nation; Saturday night’s trip to No. 3 LSU is one of eight remaining games against teams ranked in the top 20 of the latest AP poll.
It’s unclear how or if the Gators can recover quickly enough to salvage their preseason College Football Playoff hopes and avoid another spin on the coaching carousel. But any path to success rests on the broad shoulders of the 6-foot-3, 247-pound quarterback charged with finding a way to save Napier and Florida football.
