The Florida Gators are poised for a compelling 2025 football season, blending youth with seasoned talent. Under the guidance of head coach Billy Napier, the team concluded the 2024 season with a commendable 8–5 record, bringing in a very impressive bowl victory winning Gasparilla Bowl over Tulane . This type of momentum could set the stage for a season brimming with potential.
Florida Gators have a win totals set around 7.5 on most betting platforms but I’m not buying them being that low. This Gators team had too much momentum to end the year last year and have a lot of key guys returning while adding new impact transfers. The first guy to mention is DJ Lagway.
This season will go based off of his play and availability. Once he was inserted into the lineup last year they started to click as a team. He’s a Heisman hopeful and if he plays like one then this team has unlimited potential. The next key guy people forget about is Jaden Baugh. He’s a true sophomore back that quietly had one of the better years for a freshman running back. Big bruiser with some runaway speed and was a touchdown machine last year. Watch out for him to break out in a huge way this year. Next up is the receiver room.
They added a big time 4 star recruit in Dallas Wilson who took the team by storm during spring practices. Long way to go but he can get valuable snaps with the starters. To add on that, they have Eugene Wilson returning and also added Michael Sturdivant in the transfer portal to lead the charge at wide receiver. Wilson had a down year last year but mainly due to lack of being available and Sturdivant had poor QB play over at UCLA. Expect big years from those guys. Let’s not forget about Tight End Hayden Hansen who should be in line for a major upgrade on targets from a year ago. He played better with Lagway in the lineup last year so a fully healthy year can go a long way for his potential. Last but not least, the offense line and the continuity in that unit.
This unit is led by the best center in the country in Jake Slaughter and gets rounded out with some seniors who have been around the program for years knowing the system. They did get a nice transfer from Alabama in Damieon George and Bryce Lovett at RT as of now being the baby of the bunch with this being his RS Sophomore year.
The defense isn’t like it was in years past but definitely a good unit that was progressing as the year went on last season. The strength will be in the Defensive Line with Tyreak Sapp coming back along with getting Caleb Banks the transfer from Louisville manning the group. Banks comes from Louisville with great experience and production over his time there.
While Sapp is coming off a great year of 7 sacks and 13 tackles for loss to go with it. Definitely compares to some of the gators better defensive line groups over the past few years. The line backing core is where things get interesting. Inexperienced unit without much production to show for it at this point. Out of the listed starters none of the guys had more than 50 tackles last year. Expect competition throughout camp to get the best 3-4 guys to step up to the plate.
The secondary looks more rounded and a lot of guys either Juniors or Seniors which is good for knowledge of their system and also knowing each other to work as a unit instead of individually.
The coaching staff under Billy Napier is highly motivated after many believed they would all be looking for new jobs at this time last year. Russ Callaway is the teams new offensive coordinator after serving as the co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach last year. Good for team continuity to hire from within knowing previous systems and the players to see what has worked more over the years. On the defensive side they have 3 coaches all giving insight.
The head defensive coordinator is Ron Roberts but he also serves as the executive to Billy Napier so he has a little more responsibility in that role. This is probably why they have two co-coordinators in Vinnie Sunseri and Robert Bala. It seems like they have a head defensive coach for each level of the defense since Sunseri is also the defensive backs coach and Bala is the linebackers coach. Napier will probably have more of his hands helping on the offense helping coach Callaway which could be the reason why they have three coordinators on the defensive side of the ball.
This team looks ready for a big leap. Analysts are all over the map on which why to lean towards on whether the hype is real or not. Bold prediction is that they CAN win the SEC if everything aligns. Not saying they will but this team can definitely win 8-10 games if Lagway hits the ground running while also staying healthy and this defense continues making progress like they did the second half of last season. Time will tell.