DJ Lagway deflects question on Florida fans booing Billy Napier

In the last two seasons, the potential and promise of quarterback DJ Lagway, as well as his ties to head coach Billy Napier, have become the hope for the future of the Florida Gators program. However, now more than halfway through his sophomore season, the team still isn’t winning consistently enough for fans, and they’re putting pressure on the staff.

Even in a winning effort on Saturday against Mississippi State, the Florida fans made their voices heard. Napier was booed relentlessly, and there were once again chants for Napier to lose his job. It’s impossible to ignore, but when Lagway was asked about it following the game, he deflected the question.

“Like I said, I focus on my guys and my teammates,” DJ Lagway said. “Always motivating those guys and just trying to keep rallying the troops.”

Lagway is one of the biggest names that Napier has recruited during his time at Florida and the two do seem to have a strong bond. However, now in his sophomore season, injuries limited Lagway throughout the offseason, and he didn’t take as big of a stride forward as fans had hoped on the field. That’s shown up in some inconsistent play.

In this most recent win over Mississippi State, Lagway threw for 280 yards, but he also had two interceptions. That comes in a season where Lagway is now completing 65.3 percent of his passes for 1,513 yards and nine touchdowns to nine interceptions.

Napier, for his part, has also heard the criticism from fans. It’d be hard not to hear it, after all. At the same time, he believes he can handle it and the team can grow from these struggles.

“I would say I think I’m built for it,” Napier said. “I’m made for it. I chose the coaching profession. I was called to coach. The good comes with the bad. I do think that the game is about the players and I’m proud of the players and the way they played. You’re never gonna make everybody happy when you get in these leadership positions and you’re in charge. These are the things that come with it.”

Now sitting at 3-4 on the season, Florida is just 21-23 overall and 11-16 in SEC play since Napier took over in Gainesville. It’s now those multiple years of struggling in the middle of the pack of the SEC that have ultimately drawn the ire of fans, who expect to be competing for championships. Both Lagway and Napier know that the frustrations aren’t going away until they find a way to deliver on that standard.

Florida will now have a bye week and then a chance to get back to .500 against rival Georgia. That’s part of a final stretch of the season that could potentially shape the future for the Florida program under Napier.