Gators Heisman Winner Compares Lagway's Mindset to Legendary Coach

DJ Lagway enters his sophomore season with the Florida Gators and his first season entering the campaign as the starting quarterback. After leading a turnaround last season to finish 8-5 after a 4-5 start, the Gators are now back in the conversation for contention for the College Football Playoff.

The young quarterback took home the Gasparilla Bowl MVP after setting a career high of 305 passing yards in a game against an FBS opponent, along with a touchdown pass and a 62.9% completion rate. However, after the game, he expressed a lack of satisfaction with the performance, especially in the first half of the game. It fueled him to push harder in the offseason

That level of drive to be the best stands out in the eyes of legendary Gators quarterback and 1996 national champion Danny Wuerffel.

"He wants to be the best. I think he's dreamed of being the best," Wuerffel said Wednesday at the 2025 SEC Media Day. "He's dreamed to be the best, and he wants to deliver, and so he has high expectations for himself."

The 1996 Heisman Trophy winner compared Lagway's drive to that of legendary Florida Gators head coach Steve Spurrier. No matter what your achievements were, there was a push to go beyond that.

"I mean, his expectations were almost unreasonable," Wuerffel said. "But that drove you to be as good as you could be."

It's a high honor to get that comparison, especially from someone who knows the Head Ball Coach as well as Wuerffel does.

Spurrier was first a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for the Gators, the first Gators quarterback to win the award, from 1964 to 1966, and then the head coach from 1990 to 2001. In that time, he won the SEC six times, the National Championship in 1996 and compiled a 122-27-1 record. The standard was high during his tenure, pushing Wuerffel to be the best he could be.

"I wouldn't be here talking to you had I not played for him, and had the success we had," he said.

Lagway finished last season with a 6-1 record as a starter with the lone loss coming against Georgia, when he didn't finish the game due to a hamstring injury. So, he's undefeated when he starts and finishes a game.

He's shown in the small sample that he is a winner, and its a strong record to start. A 6-1 record to start the season, for example, would have the Gators ranked as a top team in the country. But that's not enough for him.

It should give Gators fans some optimism for what could be to come. If the Gators pulled off what they did down the stretch with an injured freshman quarterback against one of the toughest scheduled in the country, buckle up for what a healthier version of Lagway with more experience can do.

More From Florida Gators on SI