Florida vs Texas A&M PREVIEW | Can DJ Lagway SAVE the Gators?

we talked about this all I think last year some in the offseason I believe you referred to it Manny as the DJ lagway life preserver and on the the sinking SS Gators Billy Napier threw it out last week against Sanford I was I didn't watch this game I saw some of the leg way highlights after but I was tracking it and it was like 14 nothing in the third quarter if I recall I was thinking that's not yeah I was like that's not that's not going to go over well but Manny likewe like so we kind of knew he had the tools he's a big dude got a big arm he can run like the Cam Newton Anthony Richardson comparisons unfair in reality but like that just gives you a sense of the kind of player that he is tools is one thing he was making some plays and and I don't know that the hype is quite like when uh Anthony Richerson walked on the field and ran for like an 80r touchdown like his like one of those first games but you could definitely see it and I think that you're in a tough spot here because I think grah Merz is a good player he has exceeded your expectation but you're in a spot where you do kind of have to sell the future and throw that life preserver out and maybe build for that future do you think that lague you know leaning on him a little more heavily he's not going to start I believe he said they're going to split time this week but leaning on him a little more heavily in the next month can't do you think that there's there's a real sense that the that the life preserver can keep Napier flat at Florida for one more season if you see oh this guy's got some got some juice to him I think so I think if he is playing well and they play close to 500 football with a with a freshman quarterback and things are looking up in Gainesville versus the way it looked against Miami where you know I think everyone was stunned that it was as lopsided as it was um I I think for sure you have to consider uh keeping things going with Billy Napier I mean look they they invested a lot of money in this guy it's still a huge pay out you know buy out to get rid of him at the end of the season $26 million that doesn't include the next coach I I think if DJ lagway becomes a star and we're talking about hey I can't wait to see what this guy looks NE looks like next year and Florida can start selling transfers and recruits on coming to play with DJ lagway then you've saved your program right you've done it you've you've done what you needed to do in year three uh from a from a tough schedule tough situation standpoint if you're Billy naer but if grah mer comes back and he's the starter on Saturday and DJ lagway is just sitting there and Florida's losing to Texas A&M by three touchdowns then you have to get rid of Billy naier because he's obviously not doing what he needs to do to save himself in the program the only we talked about this a year ago I said it several times on this show like DJ lagway is Florida at this point like he has to be everything that the Gators are he has to be the front man and if he isn't he's going to go somewhere else and this program is going to look completely different next next year here's the question though Manny is now Florida and nil have had a complicated relationship and I and this is definitely nil in in gigantic question in gigantic quotation marks but couldn't you say okay maybe we bring in a more proven coach maybe somebody that coaches near The Grove who might have a top 10 team sniffing around and like in and like maybe you maybe you find out what you have in legue but maybe you do everything in your power to keep him and then maybe bring somebody else in next year I think that to me that's a more attractive maybe option because despite Billy apier seemingly doing all the things that you would need to do to succeed the in the SEC like the results have not been there the recruiting class kind of falls apart late obviously you know the win loss stuff on the field has been the biggest negative but I think that the idea that you know ushering out Napier means ushering out lagway I think it's is too presumptive I think there's things you can do to keep him versus you know hiring a guy that has a proven track record of developing quarterbacks an offensive coach and then the nil piece to make sure that somebody doesn't buy you out you are Florida again complicated relationship with that what do you what do you make of that alternate theory of what what Florida can do moving forward well that would be the best case scenario right um but but I think the the fly in the ointment here is the fact that lane kein has a top six top five team in the country this year and is going to make the 12 team playoff and his focus is not going to be on what's next it's going to be on can I win a National Championship at Old Miss and so I think that's the issue uh for Florida here and and you know people have talked about Jed fish potentially being another option you know just taking the job at Washington I could see that much more of a likely scenario than than Lane kein coming to Florida especially in light of the team that he has there I'm not saying it won't happen uh but if Miss is you know 11 and one and they're playing in the SEC Championship and they're and they're going to the playoff um like everybody thinks they're going to do then I I don't understand how you sort of get all these ducks in a row behind the scenes uh and that's you know having covered the Mario Christ ball to Miami situation just a few years ago when Oregon was playing in the Pack 12 championship game at least there you knew well this is different Mario's coming home right he's coming to Miami Lane kein like he you could potentially say he's got something better at all Miss than he does at Florida I mean the gator just have so much more to go and they don't even have a school president yet like that that's another huge hire like what do you do with athletic director there's just a lot more uh possibilities with uh with Lane kein stay at Old Miss and I think coming to Florida a lot of big questions at Florida on the other side of that matchup I think is somewhat interesting Texas A&M was in kind of a similar spot last year decided to pay the $75 million to get rid of Jimbo and now they are in a new era this is sort of uh I'm not going to call it a year zero for Texas A&M but I think the question I think for Mike ELO is after you lose to Notre Dame and Notre Dame losing doesn't help you because it feels a little bit that loss was a little worse now I think from the agies you got like kind of a minorly frustrated sigh yeah you lose to Florida I think you're going to get some some real grumbling what do you uh make of the Aggie situation I didn't watch much of the MCN game didn't love the numbers from Connor wigman but also I think you're playing MCN State you're going to you know not really uh that's not gonna be that's not GNA be a game that defines your season but for for you when you look at A&M what's what's on tap what's on uh you know what's it stake for them in this game where you know Texas ANM kind of looks at Florida and sees themselves a year ago in the mirror I think a little bit yeah I I think for Mike OKO like it's just getting The Kinks out right like it's it's getting the team to really start playing the way you want them to play and I think offensively I mean look they they fac a pretty good Notre Dame defense um I losing the home opener disappointing certainly but this is the type of Florida team that you can go in and beat certainly they're not offensively even with DJ lagway I still think they're severely limitations uh to what they can do the right side of their offensive line is not very good at Florida so I could see this as a situation where you go in there and you finally get the kind of pressure on the other other quarterback that you want to get and and uh create some turnovers and win this game easily but I think Texas A&M the upside of Texas A&M right now is a little higher than it is in Florida so I I would take that situation in RP over over what the gator are dealing with