Florida football, and Billy Napier, have handled a two-QB system in the past. Will it work again?

Steve Spurrier knows a thing or two about playing two quarterbacks during a season.

During Spurrier’s run as the Florida football head coach in the 1990s and early 2000s, he often changed quarterbacks, sometimes from play to play, in an effort to give his offenses a jolt.

“There is nothing wrong with playing two quarterbacks, nothing at all,” Spurrier said Tuesday on his weekly appearance on WRUF-AM 850 in Gainesville. “Unless you listen to these people who think they are experts on it.”

The Florida Gators will begin their two-quarterback system in earnest when they face Texas A&M in their SEC opener on Saturday at The Swamp (ABC, 3:30 p.m.)

Incumbent Florida starting quarterback Graham Mertz is set to return, while five-star UF freshman quarterback DJ Lagway is coming off a freshman school-record 456-yard passing performance against FCS opponent Samford, which included TD passes of 36, 41 and 85 yards.

The 85-yard TD to Eugene Wilson III was on a shovel pass, but Lagway dazzled the crowd at The Swamp with perfectly placed downfield throws to Tank Hawkins (36-yard TD) and Aidan Mizell (41-yard TD).

“I was impressed with the vertical pass game,” Napier said. “I thought he was very accurate down the field.”

Of course, there’s a difference between facing an FCS defense and an SEC defense, which Lagway will see Saturday when he enters the game. Mertz is the more proven commodity against Power Four conference competition, with a combined 32 starts in the Big Ten and SEC.

“We have a good young player in the building,” Napier said. “We all know he's very talented, so I'm hopeful that he can do that on every stage against any opponent. That would be the hope.

“Again, I go back to what I've always told you guys, got to play good around the quarterback. Got to protect him. Got to get open. Got to have balance. Got create a plan that they can execute.”

How Florida football will handle playing two QBs

Spurrier pointed out that, of the eight conference titles he won at Duke and Florida, four came when starting two quarterbacks during the season. The most notable QB controversies under Spurrier at Florida came in 1993-94 (Danny Wuerffel and Terry Dean) and 2000 (Rex Grossman and Jesse Palmer).

"As a coach you play the best one you think can help you win the game, and if you need to play two, play two." Spurrier said. "If one playing a lot better than the other play that one most of the game, pretty simple.”

As for how that impact the operation of the offense, timing with wide receivers and run plays, Spurrier views that as overblown.

"All these people that say the receivers have got to get used to the same quarterback that’s a bunch of garbage," Spurrier said. "They practice with them every day, they shouldn’t even know who is throwing at them, when they are running routes, you run your route, quarterback takes his steps, throws it in the direction and it goes from there."

Former Florida standout wide receiver and current SEC Network analyst Chris Doering played for UF when Spurrier flip-flopped between Wuerffel and Dean.

"As players. we didn’t really care who was in there," Doering said. "Both the guys practiced hard, both the guys would prepare and I felt like both were adequate leaders, I think as a player you don’t get into lobbying for one guy or another unless you see a real injustice going on with why a guy is playing when he doesn’t deserve it."

Doering said a case can be made for both Mertz and Lagway to play the remainder of the season but doesn't think it would be fair to Lagway's development to make him the full-time starting quarterback.

"The pressure associated with coming in and having to lead this team through a tough situation is tough, and then with the murderer's row of SEC teams coming up, it’s going to be challenging for anybody," Doering said. "But again a sixth-year guy is much more ready to navigate those challenges than a true freshman is."

Florida football coach Billy Napier has prior experience playing two QBs

Napier played two quarterbacks, Andre Nunez and Levi Lewis, during the 2018 season at Louisiana-Lafayette. Lewis appeared in all 14 games as a redshirt freshman as a change of pace backup to Nunez, passing for 585 yards and 7 TDs. Nunez threw for 2,272 yards and 20 TDs as the senior starter.

"Levi was a freshman and we played him, we made a commitment to play him a certain amount in every game," Napier said. "It proved beneficial because in year two, three, four he was the starter and we won a lot of football games.

"So, he was talented enough and different than a starter in year one at UL, and I think that he had presence about him and the ability to affect the team, inspire confidence and helping the team very similarly to the way DJ goes about it."

Whether that means Napier will alternate Mertz and Lagway on a series-by-series basis remains to be seen.

"That's where the gamesmanship is," Napier said. "I don't want to put the playbook on the streets here, but ultimately (Lagway) is one of our better players. We're going to give him an opportunity to impact the game and contribute to the team."

Notable Florida football QB controversies

2021, Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson: Richardson flashed all the tools as a redshirt freshman with his size, speed and arm strength but was oft injured and didn't have a same handle on Dan Mullen's offense compared to the veteran Jones. Mullen finally turned to Richardson as a starter against rival Georgia, but he wasn't ready to handle Kirby Smart's elite defense, going 12-for-20 for 82 yards and 2 interceptions before being benched for Jones. It turned out to be the beginning of the end of the Mullen era. Jones would make the next three starts, but Mullen was fired following a 24-23 overtime loss at Missouri.

2019, Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask: Franks struggled to start the 2019 season, but the decision was made for Mullen to pull him when he suffered a broken ankle against Kentucky. Trask came off the bench to rally the Gators to a comeback win and helped lead UF to an 11-2 record and Orange Bowl trip. Trask held onto the starting job in 2020 as Franks transferred to Arkansas, leading UF to an SEC East Division title and Cotton Bowl trip before going on to the NFL Draft, where he was taken in the third round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

2011: Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett: In Will Muschamp's first year as Florida coach, the Gators brought in a pair of five-star freshman quarterbacks. Muschamp's offensive coordinator in 2011, Charlie Weis, preferred Brissett, but when Weis left to become head coach at Kansas and Brent Pease took over as the new OC in 2012, the choice was made to go to Driskel because he was a more mobile option. Driskel led Florida to an 11-2 record and Sugar Bowl trip in 2012, while Brissett ended up transferring to N.C. State in 2013. Both quarterbacks made it to the NFL and are still playing in the league, as Brissett is a starting quarterback with the New England Patriots and Driskel is a backup with the Washington Commanders.

2006, Tim Tebow and Chris Leak: Tebow entered the season as the five-star freshman quarterback while Leak was the incumbent entering his senior year. Former Florida coach Urban Meyer made a two-QB system work, starting Leak while bringing in the 255-pound Tebow to barrel through the line in short yardage situations and keep defenses guessing between the run and pass in the red zone. The season ended with Florida going 13-1 and winning its second national title.

2000, Jesse Palmer and Rex Grossman: Before hosting The Bachelor, Palmer was vying for Steve Spurrier's affection, but the Head Ball Coach eventually turned to Grossman as the starter by the end of the season. Florida went 10-3 and won the SEC before falling to Miami in the Sugar Bowl.

1997, Doug Johnson, Jesse Palmer, Noah Brindise: Spurrier used all three quarterbacks, sometimes alternating them in the same game from play to play, during the course of the 1997 season. Palmer was a freshman and Brindise was a walk-on as Spurrier searched for answers after losing Danny Wuerffel, who led UF to its first national title and won the Heisman in 1996.

1993-94, Danny Wuerffel and Trey Dean: Dean waited his turn behind Shane Matthews and started some games, but Wuerffel eventually proved his mettle in leading the Gators big comeback wins, including at Kentucky in 1993. Wuerffel took over as the Florida starting quarterback for good in 1995 and guided UF to its first national title in school history a year later.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida football, and Billy Napier, have handled a two-QB system in the past. Will it work again?