Florida thinks it is a ‘playoff team’

Florida quarterback DJ Lagway doubled down on his coach’s confidence.

“I definitely think we are a playoff team,” Lagway, among the top 10 favorites in the preseason Heisman Trophy odds, said on Wednesday. “You know, we’ve just got to go out there and play ball and prove it to ourselves.”

Florida will have plenty of opportunities to prove it to others, as well. The Gators face five teams who likely will be in the preseason Top 25 over a six-game span:

• Sept. 13 at LSU

• Sept. 20 at Miami

• Oct. 4 vs. Texas

• Oct. 11 at Texas A&M

• Oct. 18 vs. Mississippi State

• Nov. 1 vs. Georgia

Lagway said he has overcome what Napier had said was a shoulder-related (nonthrowing arm) injury and is focused on the Aug. 30 opener against Long Island.

“Spot the ball,” Lagway said. “That was our saying last year: It doesn’t matter who we play, spot the ball. ... That’s kind of our mindset.”

Few could have projected Florida pitching a playoff narrative in 2025 after stumbling to a 3-3 start last season with losses to Miami (41-17), Texas A&M (33-20) and Tennessee (23-17, OT).

“I’m an adult, I can turn my phone off, I can handle that,” said Napier, who surely heard reports that Florida was considering buying out his contract during the 2024 season.

“But those players live in a digital world. We’ve got choices; we can choose to blame other people, or we can choose to be accountable. They took ownership, we collaborated, we made changes, and we saw those young players grow up.

“The good thing for us is a huge majority of that group is back.”

Florida legend Steve Spurrier believes the Gators’ playoff chances could come down to winning close games in the clutch.

“Talent-wise, we are better than any of Billy’s previous teams, so the Gators have a good chance,” Spurrier told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “DJ Lagway is a good player, he really is, and he needs to stay healthy.

“Other than that, we have good running backs. Jadan Baugh is a good one, and the defense played really well at the end of last year.”

Spurrier’s comments hit the mark, as the 6-foot-1, 227-pound Baugh, a Columbia High School product, looked dynamic, averaging 5.1 yards per carry last season as a freshman.

Baugh rushed for five touchdowns in his first career start against Kentucky and, three weeks later, posted a career-high 88 yards in his second start at Texas.

“The schedule is tough, but everyone’s schedule is tough in the SEC,” Spurrier said. “Texas is coming in here, but we’ve got a fighting chance, and it may just come down to winning the close games.”

The Gators were 2-3 in games decided by one score or less the past two seasons, with a 23-17 OT loss at Tennessee last year and losses to Arkansas (39-36, OT) and Missouri (33-31) in 2023.

SEC Network analyst Chris Doering said it starts with Lagway, a sophomore dual-threat quarterback who was the 2023-24 Gatorade National Football Player of the Year playing in Texas’ largest classification at Willis High School.

“They proved they can win big ballgames last November against LSU and Ole Miss, and now they’ve got to keep that momentum going, and it starts with Lagway,” said Doering, a former Florida star.

“The offensive line will be one of the best in the conference, and the receivers they brought in — guys like J. Michael Sturdivant (UCLA transfer) and five-star freshmen Dallas Wilson and Vernell Brown III, along with Tre Wilson coming back from injury — shows there are a lot of weapons in the offense.”

More than that, Napier said, this Florida football team has faith.

“We got some guys that have been through some battles, they have experience,” Napier said. “I really believe that’s the most crucial ingredient when you start talking about having a great team, the character of the players that are leading the team.

“This group believes in what we do, (and) I think that’s where we really took a big step in the right direction last year, is we found a level of confidence that we can go toe-to-toe with any team in the country, any place, any time.”