Why Florida SHOULD Start DJ Lagway on Saturday vs Texas A&M | Billy Napier's Status in the Swamp

Billy Napier has to start DJ lagway against Texas A&M it's the only way to save his job like starting Graham Merz and and here's the problem with this this is I I I struggle handing out this take even though I believe I am right and I believe this is the only path forward because Billy Napier is a very nice guy I don't want him to get fired I know a lot of Florida fans want him to get fired but you talk to people who work with him talk to people who work for him like he's a nice guy he's a decent human being like you don't want this to happen but part of being a decent human being is he does things like Ram Merz is back he's been cleared from concussion protocol he's practicing full speed you start him against Texas and and Grant Merz by the way fantastic person like we've had him on the show he's awesome I remember at SEC media days he was coming to do a spot with JD and I told JD I'm like he's going to be your favorite quarterback after this I'm warning you right now and JD does does the interview I'm like how'd it go well he's delightful and he is but it ain't show Friends it ain't show Family it's Show Business and DJ lagway gives them the best chance to win and he also gives Billy Napier the best chance to continue as Flor coach look I get that pretty much every everyone affiliated with Florida is out on Billy Napier after the Miami game including some of the big money people but I will tell you this this is a that's a very emotional crowd if they win some games and they see a hope for the future they might change their minds I don't know if they will but they might and the last chance you have if you're Billy Napier is to let that guy who has multiple years of Eligibility remaining who's a true freshman who throws the ball like I don't know I mean you haven't seen somebody throwing the ball at Florida like that in a long time because I actually think he's more accurate than Anthony Richardson Anthony Richardson maybe had the bigger skill set but DJ's accurate with that a skill set that's fairly comparable so if you're Billy apier there is no other choice but I'm not sure that's the choice he's going to make yeah and I I don't know if we're going to take this is me judging your takes but if we take the step forward and I'm going to add a little bit extra to the take and you can add this to it but if Billy Napier does start Graham Merz Andy what does that mean in terms of whether or not he's even showing us if he's equipped for the job I I think he's showing us he's not because you you have to be a killer in this job you have to put sentimentality aside you have to do the thing that helps your team and you the most and right now that start DJ lagway and it's like reminds me of the column that you have up on on three right now about Ryan day and whether or not he's a psychopath enough to yeah to be a head coach and we mean that in an endearing way are you a show business person who will put everything above everything in order to win football games and you have to have a certain mentality you have to have a c certain ruthlessness and you have to have a certain way about you in the way that you approach this job and you know I don't know if there's a lot of places at the top for just nice dudes you know like Ryan day is a nice dude we're going to get a case study this year and this isn't a Ryan Day conversation but it reminds me a lot of like you similar type of dynamic of like your job's on the line Florida seasons and futur on the line um there's no room for feelings here yeah you know King Malik in the chat who has the better QB Texas A&M or Florida and the which one yeah which are we are we comparing Connor Wegman to Graham Merz or are we comparing Conor Wegman to DJ lagway because I think if it's DJ lagway then it's Florida I mean I'll rank them one through three if you want go for it okay I'll take if if it was players that I had to take on my team this year I would take lague one I would take Wegman 2 and merch three and there's your answer and there's your answer and and so we'll see what happens because there we have actually Florida and A&M will make their first first appearances on the SEC elig or availability report tonight yeah so that's going to be a difference we're going to figure out really I think where Florida stands on Wednesday evening now that we H the schools are forced and have to give us injury information that is more revelatory than maybe it has been in the past but Andy you're in a situation right now as Billy napers sitting in his chair if I in this studio here in wonderful Nashville Tennessee sit next to my best bud can't give you at least one reason why Graham merch should start from a rational standpoint right then why like then why would you do it and I would love to hear what Billy if he does it and I were at that game I would ask why did you do that I had a a Florida fan tweeted me earlier this week and I thought it was interesting they said if he starts Graham Merz we're gonna boo and I want you to know we're not booing Graham Merz we're booing Billy Napier yeah like and they will and and there's going to be no Smithers standing behind you to say it's boo ears like they will be booing you and they'll be letting their feelings be known now listen we're all gonna look incredibly stupid if grah mer starts balls out and they I don't even agree with that but you and I were there at the Miami game yeah and we've seen what Texas A&M's defensive line looks like and we've seen what Florida's offensive line looks like and we've seen what Florida's defensive line Looks like like Texas A&M on their second Center I understand that but I don't know that I think Miami's offensive line is very good I don't know that it's that good that they made Florida's defensive line look completely incapable of anything yeah cam Ward was basically not touched in that game we were sitting in the Press Box watching it I was just like are they gonna even make him sweat like we're talking about going on the road to the swamp and we've been analyzing what how much of a test this is going to be for somebody who's at a new program going into an SEC environment and it was very easy for him to pick Florida apart because he wasn't touched so like that is a realistic thing but going back to the Merz thing Andy as you were talking it's like Florida plays A&M they start Graham Merz Graham Merz throws for 220 yards and two touchdowns no turnovers and they win like that is still in your mind the right call if like was he Vindicated there or he's Vindicated for this week the question is and then they start Merz next week and then it's back to some of the stuff that we've seen and they lose like I know that this is a shortterm thing this is a we're not talking about go win the A&M game and I guess maybe for him if he's in a position where every single loss that piles up on their resume now is a potential job ending loss but I'm thinking if I'm Billy Napier I want to do everything I can to make this season about Hope and progress and I don't think that beating A&M in a one and a half point spread game with the quarterback that was on your team last year that won some games like this yeah really does prove anything when it comes to whether or not you and that's the thing if DJ lague is going to save bilan ap's job if billian AP is GNA save his job winning against Texas A&M is the minimum winning against Mississippi state is the minimum winning against UCF is the minimum you've got to be able to beat Tennessee you got to be able to to beat Georgia you've got to be able to beat Texas like not all of them but you got to be able to beat some of them if you want to keep this job yeah I I'm looking back last year and uh at Florida's schedule as we speak and Florida beat the number 11 Tennessee Volunteers 29 to 16 in can't play in Gainesville it's okay it's a thing okay well they also beat South Carolina at home no they beat South Carolina on the road on the in a game where that was back and forth neither team played defense uh Florida actually probably outplayed Missouri Missouri made a miracle play on Fourth and 13 to win that game yeah uh but and that was on the road too that was on the road but the point I'm trying to make here Andy is that Florida before they lost five or six games to end the season last year already proved they could win a game like this A&M game right it's not about like showing that you can win a pretty solid it's about showing Improvement giving people something to latch on to and it's like I think that a win against A&M with grah merart this is a take you want a take I'm gonna throw one back in your face go for it go for it I think that a Florida win by 17 with graham Merz as the quarterback would not be as inspiring as a Florida win by four with DJ lagway I think if you were a fan you'd feel that way if you're the coach you might not feel that way but I think that if you're the coach who is hoping to be the coach for a month that you want the sentiment as a fan right to be that like that's the thing it's like we're not looking at well how can we feel the best on Sunday in film room and that might sound stupid I know you want to win by the most amount of points and have the best possible game but from a perception standpoint for a for a passion standpoint this win a 17-point win over A&M does not help you escape apathy apathy is the enemy here you want enthusiasm you want people want to come to the games to see something the people who write seven figure checks are the biggest fan yeah that's what I'm saying most who do you want what do you want people to talk about at dinner wow we really turn around Graham like they're at their steakhouses after the game that night with all their their uh nice Blazers and their pipes you know that's how I think all boosters are by the way you think they all smoke pipes they all smoke pipes uh you know just like rich person Behavior you know they they would be first class every single person that's a booster in college football is exactly dressed at dinner the way they did in first class in the Titanic that's well the qu the question is are they are they cruising on the Titanic or not we're going to find out just like type of like outfit um but all kidding aside at dinner you want them to be like holy crap we got somebody in lagway holy crap look at this kid the sky the limit holy crap it's all about optimism future reason to keep writing checks but it's everything even in our coverage yeah what do people care about more current team coverage or who the five star they could get is everything is about the future and Billy Napier is not we're not at the point in the season anymore where we're worried about SEC championships and winning 10 games that is out the window like you got to play the like if you if what are we talking about having the best possible season or giving Billy Napier the best possible chance to save his job because those are two very different discussions so I'm on the conversation of happy fans enticed by lagway has a better chance of saving your job than five and seven because grah mer had a few good games agreed thank you so much for watching just a reminder subscribe to this channel right here so you never miss an episode of Andy Staples on three and oh by the way watch all the other great videos on the Onre Sports YouTube channel