DJ Lagway Enters Transfer Portal After Tumultuous 2025 Season at Florida
For nearly two years, DJ Lagway was the name Florida fans circled on the calendar. The former five-star quarterback was supposed to be the spark that reignited the Gators and stabilized Billy Napier’s tenure in Gainesville.
Big arm, elite athleticism, high football IQ-Lagway checked every box on paper. And after flashes of brilliance in 2024, it looked like Florida might finally have their guy.
But the 2025 season didn’t just fall short of expectations-it unraveled completely. Now, with Lagway entering the transfer portal and Napier out as head coach, the vision that once inspired so much hope in Gainesville has officially collapsed.
From Rising Star to Reset Button
To understand how quickly things fell apart, you have to go back to the end of 2024. Lagway had taken over as Florida’s starting quarterback and made an immediate impact.
In every game he started and finished that season, the Gators walked away with a win. That kind of momentum had fans and coaches alike dreaming big heading into the offseason.
But that dream never made it to the fall.
Lagway’s offseason was derailed before it even began. Just as spring practices were set to kick off, the quarterback was sidelined with a shoulder issue and a hernia that kept him from throwing for the entirety of spring ball.
That was a major setback, especially with a receiving corps full of new faces. Chemistry, timing, rhythm-everything that needs reps to develop was suddenly on hold.
Then came fall camp, and with it, more bad news. Lagway suffered a calf injury just as he was ramping back up. The result: a severely limited offseason for a quarterback who needed every snap he could get.
And it showed.
A Season That Spiraled
By the time the 2025 season kicked off, Lagway looked like a different player than the one who had sparked so much optimism the year before. His footwork was inconsistent, his arm strength appeared diminished, and his ability to read defenses had regressed. The confident, decisive playmaker from 2024 had been replaced by a quarterback who looked out of sync with the offense and unsure of his own game.
Napier pointed to Lagway’s missed time in the offseason throughout the year, and it’s hard to argue with that assessment. But the bigger question is how Florida allowed itself to become so reliant on one player-especially one coming off an injury-plagued offseason.
Lagway was supposed to be the guy. The quarterback who would stabilize the offense, elevate the program, and buy Napier the time he needed to build. But when that plan fell apart, so did the foundation of Florida’s rebuild.
Fallout in Gainesville
With Lagway now in the transfer portal and Napier dismissed, Florida is left to pick up the pieces. The Gators didn’t just lose a quarterback-they lost the face of a vision that never materialized. Napier, once seen as a steady hand to guide Florida back to relevance, exits with the unfortunate distinction of being one of the least successful head coaches in the program’s modern history.
It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s also a reflection of the current college football landscape. Of the top ten quarterbacks in the 2024 recruiting class, Lagway is now the fifth to transfer from his original school. And of the five who stayed, only two threw more than 100 passes in 2025.
In other words, this isn’t just a Florida problem-it’s a college football reality. The days of banking a program’s future on a single five-star recruit are over.
Talent still matters, but development, health, and fit are just as critical. And in Lagway’s case, the timing never lined up.
What’s Next?
Lagway will have no shortage of suitors in the portal. His raw tools and flashes of upside from 2024 are still there, and in the right system-with a full offseason to get healthy-he could still become the player many believed he would be.
As for Florida, the search begins for a new quarterback, a new coach, and a new direction. The Lagway era never really got off the ground, but it leaves behind a valuable lesson: in today’s game, no one player-no matter how talented-can carry a program alone.