Steve Spurrier unpacks struggles by DJ Lagway, suggests radical solution

Florida fans are desperate to understand quarterback DJ Lagway‘s struggles this season. During an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show on Friday, former Gators head coach Steve Spurrier weighed in on Lagway’s slow start to the 2025 campaign.

“[Former Florida QB Danny Wuerffel] said, ‘Well, he missed all spring practice, he missed most of preseason practice and he blah, blah, blah, blah, this, that and the other.’ And, that may have something to do with. I don’t know,” Spurrier said. “Of course, you know me, if the first guy is struggling, give the other guy a chance.

“… I don’t know. That’s a difference of opinion from the way coaches coach today, it seems like. But anyway, hopefully DJ Lagway is really ready to put it together. And I tell you what, Paul, the more we watch college football today, your quarterback almost has to be a runner… I don’t know if, health-wise, DJ feels like he can run, but he was a good runner at times last year.”

Through Florida’s first four games of the season, Lagway has completed 67.5% of his pass attempts for 690 yards and five touchdowns, compared to six interceptions. Lagway hasn’t been a threat in the ground game this season and is averaging less than one yard per carry.

When Spurrier’s quarterbacks had troubles, he rarely hesitated to give his backup a try. Danny Wuerffel, who Spurrier referred to in his conversation with Finebaum, split snaps with both Terry Dean and Shane Matthews in the early 1990s.

Florida head coach Billy Napier hasn’t resorted to other options at quarterback yet, but if he did, freshman Tramell Jones Jr. is the team’s QB2. Jones played in the second half of the Gators’ season-opener, completing 12-of-his-18 pass attempts for 131 yards and two touchdowns, without throwing an interception. After the game, Billy Napier raved about Tramell’s debut performance.

“He can really throw it. He’s got velocity on the ball,” Napier said. “The spin rate is impressive and then he’s a very accurate quarterback. I think you can see he’s got some savvy, made a few plays with his feet. In general, he’s impressed us and he earned that job. He earned that role.

“This is an opportunity to give him a lot of work and we felt strongly about that. … There’s no substitute for playing in a game. I think that was Tramell’s first opportunity. I think he’ll be better next time.”

For now, it appears Florida won’t be giving up on DJ Lagway. On Saturday, the Gators will look to get back in the win column as they square off against Texas at 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ESPN.