How DJ Lagway turned around a Texas high school football program

Florida's true freshman quarterback led Willis High School to unprecedented heights

DJ Lagway took Willis High School (Texas) from a 2-8 season as a freshman to a 12-1 record his senior year. / Photo by Daniel Grant

After Florida Gators football coach Billy Napier made it clear true freshman DJ Lagway would be the team's starting quarterback for the rest of the season, Trent Miller shot a text message to Lagway's dad.

"What's the price of the Lagway jersey now?" Miller, Lagway's former coach at Willis High School (Texas) quipped. Derek Lagway Sr. laughed.

• TOP 25 HS FOOTBALL SCORES | RECRUITING UPDATES

In Willis, a Houston suburb with a population of roughly 7,000, seeing Lagway jerseys being worn around town is nothing out of the ordinary. Those who saw him give Willis its best-ever season three years after going 2-8 his freshman year are waiting for everyone else to find out.

The 6-foot-2, 225-pound QB made his first career start on Sept. 7, throwing for 456 yards and 3 touchdowns in Florida's 45-7 win over Samford. If you watched Lagway in high school, those numbers were not a surprise.

The former 5-star and the nation's top-rated quarterback in 2024 made his college debut in Florida's Week 1 loss to No. 19 Miami. He entered after starter Graham Mertz was knocked out of the game and was named the starter while Mertz spent the week in concussion protocol.

As a four-year starter at Willis, Lagway took the program from a 2-8 season as a freshman to a 12-1 season in 2023 that included an undefeated 6A District 13 title run and a 6A Division II playoff run that ended against nationally ranked DeSoto in the regional semifinals.

As a senior, he threw for 4,606 yards, 58 touchdowns, two interceptions as well as 957 rushing yards and 16 TDs on the ground.

"This right now is the house that Lagway built, 100%,’ " said Miller, who was hired as the head coach between his sophomore and junior seasons.

"Our town's not used to having success like that."

Miller's first impression of Lagway was memorable for two reasons.

For any newly hired head coach, an intro to your quarterback — or team's established leader — is often a first order of business.

Lagway was gone with Willis' baseball team the day Miller was announced as the school's head coach. So Miller reached out to his parents, Derek and Niki, and the family invited Miller over for pizza.

"I walked in, he didn’t know me and I didn’t know him," Miller said. "And just his raw energy, attention to detail stood out most to me."

—

More DJ Lagway:

• Desoto downs DJ Lagway, Willis: 'They thought he could beat us by himself, and that was not happening'

• DJ Lagway, Willis down Tomball Memorial in Texas high school football playoffs

• Florida Gators commit DJ Lagway finds hurdling receiver for 1 of 7 first-half TDs

—

Miller recalls walking in to a mountain of Papa John's pizza boxes ("His parents, they are great," Miller said.) and Lagway having as many — if not more — questions for his new coach than his coach did for him.

One of those questions was direct: How do you plan to spotlight my teammates, not just me?

"That initial conversation I got a really good idea of who he was as a human being," Miller said. "And I’ve said this, but he’s a much better human being than he is a football player. He’s going to be special in anything he’s involved in in life because of who he is as a person."

Lagway was a prized member of the Gators' 2024 recruiting class as not just a 5-star prospect and also the No. 1 rated QB in the country.

Miller expects many to tune in from Houston suburb Willis and many more across Texas to be tuned in.

DJ Lagway tosses the ball to a ref after a touchdown in Willis' Texas high school football playoff loss to DeSoto in 2023. / Photo by Daniel Grant, SBLive

“I’d say in Willis, jersey sales haven’t gone up much because it seems like everybody already got one," Miller said.

According to Miller, DJ's parents have made Lagway jerseys and merch and much of the community is already outfitted in his apparrel.

Quirina Silva, who coaches a Willis' district opponent Cleveland, asked Miller to this week let Lagway know how proud he was of the 19-year-old.

Miller watched Florida' Florida's 41-17 loss to No. 19 Miami in Week 1 at a friend's house.

Lagway made his collegiate debut in the third quarter and completed 3 of 6 pass attempts for 31 yards and an interception.

He led a nine-play, 58-yard touchdown drive late in the third quarter that ended in a one-yard TD run by Treyaun Webb and converted three of the Gators' four first downs — the first two 11 and 16-yard passes to Eugene Wilson and a 16-yard scamper to the Miami 5-yard-line to set up the score.

"I almost started crying," Miller said. "That’s the moment he’s worked for his entire life."

Napier told reporters this week he's glad Lagway was able to make his debut before his first start.

"I’ve got a ton of confidence in DJ," Napier said. "We got him in January. He’s a completely different person and player than he was when he arrived. 

—

SBLIVE SPORTS LAUNCHES HIGH SCHOOL ON SI

High School On SI will serve as the premier destination for high school sports fans, delivering unparalleled coverage of high school athletics nationwide through in-depth stories, recruiting coverage, rankings, highlights and much more. The launch of a dedicated high school experience expands Sports Illustrated’s reach to even more local communities as fans can now truly follow athletes from “preps to the pros” on a single platform, bringing them closer to the action than ever before.For more information, visit si.com/high-school.

-- Andy Buhler | andy@scorebooklive.com | @sblivetx