Last year, Florida entered Week 1 with question marks and Billy Napier was on the hot seat. But the Gators rallied in a big way, finishing 8-5 and bringing plenty of momentum in 2025. That late surge – as well as quarterback DJ Lagway – are reasons why Kirk Herbstreit thinks Florida can make some […]
Last year, Florida entered Week 1 with question marks and Billy Napier was on the hot seat. But the Gators rallied in a big way, finishing 8-5 and bringing plenty of momentum in 2025.
That late surge – as well as quarterback DJ Lagway – are reasons why Kirk Herbstreit thinks Florida can make some noise. He picked the Gators to be his SEC sleeper team during the 2025 Preseason Herbie Awards.
Herbstreit acknowledged the way Florida’s players responded to adversity last year and how things could’ve gone much different. Based on that response, as well as the confidence shown in Napier, UF has an opportunity to be an interesting team in the SEC this year.
“I’ve talked about them a little bit already, and I think it’s a lot to do with the quarterback, DJ Lagway,” Herbstreit said on the show. “And I think more than that, the fact they didn’t quit last year. Think about last year – they had the hot seat of their coach, they start off slow.
“It would’ve been easy in this portal era to kind of shut it down, and if anything, they got stronger. It says a lot about Billy Napier and this team and their culture. I like the Gators as a sleeper.”
One of the big questions this offseason, though, has been Lagway’s health. He missed the end of last year with an injury and sat out spring practice with an arm issue. Additionally, he has dealt with a calf injury during camp.
Speaking with reporters earlier this week, Napier confirmed Lagway is “feeling much better” as the opener gets closer. While he didn’t scrimmage that day, the former highly rated recruit appears to be in good standing ahead of Week 1.
“He took team reps today, which is good,” Napier said Tuesday. “And obviously, he’s hitting — he had a great, full stack of throws last week, four days in a row. Didn’t scrimmage but did quite a bit of work that day. So yeah, he’s feeling much better and he’s moving around well.”
Lagway showed flashes of his potential last year after he took over the starting job following Graham Mertz’s injury. He threw for 1,915 yards and 12 touchdowns, and Florida had a 6-1 record in games Lagway started. Florida will kick off the 2025 season Aug. 30 against LIU.
Category: General Sports
