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Florida Gators quarterback DJ Lagway is facing significant scrutiny after three-straight losses. Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Lagway Taps into Inner Tebow with 'Guarantee' Speech After Gators' Loss

Originally posted on Florida Gators on SI | By Cam Parker | Last updated Sep 24, 2025 8:00 AM ET

Fresh off a loss, the Florida Gators quarterback walked up to the podium to face questions from the media.

A stinging loss in the Gators' fourth game of a season with high expectations, the former five-star quarterback in his second season as a starter vowed to improve, vowed to hold the team to a higher standard and vowed to take accountability for the entire team's performance.

No, I'm not talking about Tim Tebow's "Promise" in 2008 after a 31-30 loss in the Swamp to unranked Ole Miss.

I'm talking about DJ Lagway's "Guarantee" on Saturday after a 26-7 loss in Hard Rock Stadium to No. 4 Miami.

"It's been hard, but you can tell we're going to get things changed for sure. I guarantee that," he said. "I can guarantee that. This is not acceptable at all. I'm not going to sit here and lie to you all and make this seem like this is okay. This isn't okay. We've got to play better football and it starts with me."

Lagway's guarantee, albeit in the same nature as Tebow's promise, came in different overarching circumstances.

Tebow's promise came in Florida's first loss of the season in shocking upset fashion. The Gators were 3-0 and ranked No. 4 in the country before the loss to the Rebels.

Tebow, who threw for 319 yards in his loss, was also fresh off winning the Heisman Trophy, and the Gators were certainly still in contention for a BCS national championship.

With Florida and Ole Miss playing this weekend, we had to bring this back.

Tim Tebow's "The Promise" speech after the Rebels upset No. 4 Florida in 2008. pic.twitter.com/sDEVTeBLts
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 24, 2020

Lagway's guarantee came in Florida's third loss of the season in not-so-shocking fashion. The Gators were 1-2 and fell from No. 13 all the way to being unranked in the weeks before the loss to the Hurricanes.

Lagway, meanwhile, had seen his play turn upside down after a strong freshman season and was fresh off a five-interception performance against LSU the week prior. His 61 passing yards against Miami were the lowest in a game he started and finished.

Florida was also two years removed from a national title under head coach Urban Meyer at the time of Tebow's speech, while the Gators currently see head coach Billy Napier back on the hotseat after Saturday's loss, which moved him to 20-22 in his tenure.

While the circumstances could not be more different, the message is still the same: change starts with a vocal leader the team can rally around.

"You have never seen any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of this season, and you'll never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of this season. You'll never see a team play harder than we will the rest of the season. God Bless," Tebow said.

Lagway, who already drew comparisons to Tebow as a five-star, dual-threat quarterback, had an extremely similar sentiment on why he believes Florida can turn its season around.

"Because I'm the head of it. I'm going to start with it. I'm going to demand greatness from everybody," he said. "It's not — we're done with the playing around stuff. It's time to get serious and it starts with me. I've got to set the tempo. I've got to set the tone in practice. In meetings, around the building. I know for a fact it's going to change because it's going to start with me."

It remains to be seen where Lagway's guarantee will take Florida this season, and he faces a tougher challenge than Tebow did 17 years ago, but if history has proven anything, his speech could be the spark the Gators need.

Tebow's promise proved to be kept with the Gators winning 22-straight games, two SEC East Division titles, an SEC title and a national championship after his speech.

Can Lagway's guarantee spark something similar?

Florida is currently on a bye week and will host No. 10 Texas on Oct. 4.

This article first appeared on Florida Gators on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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