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Florida football quarterback DJ Lagway reacts to the Gators retaining Billy Napier for 2025

Florida football coach Billy Napier is safe for another season, athletic director Scott Stricklin announced Thursday. How did the future of the UF offense react to the news?

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The future of Florida football is a little more certain after University of Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin announced Thursday that head coach Billy Napier will return for his fourth season in 2025.

One UF freshman is happy with Stricklin's decision.

DJ Lagway, the Gators' future center, posted Stricklin's statement on his Instagram story.

He added a smile emoji, two gators and several exclamation points.

Florida's head coach and his rookie quarterback have a long-standing relationship, as Napier recruited Lagway from Willis, Texas, from the start.

The QB was ranked No. 3 among all recruits in the Class of 2024 and No. 1 in Texas and among QBs.

He committed to UF in December 2022, after Napier's first season (6-6), despite offers from virtually every Power 5 program in the country.

Lagway has started three games this season. He started in place of the injured Graham Mertz against Samford on September 7, where he threw for 456 yards and three touchdowns.

He fully took over the starting position midway through the Tennessee game on October 12 after Mertz suffered a torn ACL.

Since then, Lagway has also suffered an injury after suffering a hamstring injury in the second quarter against Georgia last Saturday. Aidan Warner lined up for Lagway.

It remains unclear whether Lagway will play this Saturday against Texas, as he was listed as “questionable” in the first SEC availability report of the week on Wednesday.

Noah Ram covers Gainesville area high school sports and University of Florida athletics for The Gainesville Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him by email at [email protected] and follow him @Noah_ram1 on X/Twitter.

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