DJ Lagway’s private QB coach: ‘Florida has hit the jackpot’
DJ Lagway was a freshman in high school when he began working with J.P. Tillman, a former college quarterback who today is a private coach with the nickname “QB Technician.”
Lagway was relatively new to the position back then.
As a ninth-grader, he played some quarterback, some receiver and even some safety. Additionally, he pitched.
But in January 2021, Lagway thought it was time to get serious about QB.
Two years later, the standout from Willis (Texas) is a 5-star Florida Gators commit who checks in as the No. 30 overall recruit nationally for the On3 Industry Ranking.
Gators Online caught up with Tillman on Sunday to get some insight into Lagway’s development.
Gators Online: What was it like working with DJ early on?
J.P. Tillman: “I think I posted a video recently just to kind of see a little plane of how it all started. He was a huge baseball player. He had a very good baseball background and also as a pitcher. So a lot of things he did resembled a pitcher — like he had a real long motion. What we tried to do was get him to understand how his arms and levers really work and where ground force comes from. How to create energy to throw a football.
He threw high 80s (as a pitcher). After we started working with the football stuff he did, he actually went back to baseball and was immediately in the 90s. He saw how the football work he did helped him not only differentiate football from the baseball form, but it made him understand his body. He even got better as a baseball player working as a QB with us..
As a ninth-grader, he really got into the concepts (of the position). He had played QB before, but his dad said they just put him at QB in youth football. He was a running QB. They didn’t pass the ball. They just ran with it.”
For Lagway, the ceiling appears to be quite high
Gators Online: Is DJ close at all to reaching his ceiling as a QB?
J.P. Tillman: “Not even close. Nobody has seen the best of DJ yet. Each year is better than the last. But each year we know it’s going to be better because he’s still learning and developing more, growing into everything. … (The other top QBs in the 2024 class) are all amazing guys. I just wonder how close they are to their ceilings. DJ’s a baby. He understands he’s in a position where it’s tough to put a measurement on how high his ceiling is, because he’s just beginning. When you see someone like that who’s just beginning it’s scary because of what he’s coming to the table with right now.”
Gators Online: What are his strengths at this time?
J.P. Tillman: “Probably off-platform throwing. I would say he has a multitude of arm angles. And his anticipation.”
Gators Online: What are you working on with him the most between now and when he enrolls at Florida in January?
DJ Lagway’s prep work for his UF arrival already has started
J.P. Tillman: Me, him and Coach (Ryan O’Hara of Florida) have talked about his understanding of their offensive protections. Understanding the concepts. There were things he heard in the meetings there that were kind of new to him. Things we really want to try to explain in detail so he understands it before he gets there.”
Gators Online: What about technically?
J.P. Tillman: “Technically, we’re working on keeping his weight back — being more compact with his throwing form and his mechanics.”
Gators Online: What’s it like coaching DJ?
J.P. Tillman: “Man, he’s an awesome kid to work with. He’s the type of kid that pushes himself to understand what he’s doing; not just trying to learn, trying to grasp why. How is the best way to do it He’s been watching Aaron Rodgers. That’s probably one of, it not his favorite, guy. A lot of his game has really started to kind of transfer from what he’s been watching with Aaron Rodgers, as far as moving the pocket, getting his back foot down but also getting his front foot down faster. Weight shift.”
Gators Online: How do you think DJ Lagway will do in college?
J.P. Tillman: “I think Florida has hit the jackpot with the kid in numerous ways.”
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