​My Big 12 media day delivered a trove of intriguing quotes, many of them centered on DJ Lagway and his stint with the Florida Gators. The Gators had pinned their hopes on Lagway becoming the next great quarterback, a lineage that Florida has chased since the days of Heisman winners like Tim Tebow. At the time, Lagway was viewed as having strong odds to capture the award in the preseason, fueling high expectations for his development with the program.
Ultimately, Lagway chose to leave Florida and transfer to the Baylor Bears after facing a challenging season marked by both mental and physical hurdles. “Yeah, I say really, the cultivation of both [health and mental],” Lagway explained. “Being able to, while I wasn’t healthy, really not know the mental side of it, and then being able, when I was healthy, fighting the mental battles of not having the amount of reps that I needed to do to go out there and perform on the field, so being able to battle both, that was a tremendous [battle].”
One notable difference from Lagway’s time in Gainesville is the head coach. Billy Napier was removed from his role during the season, and Jon Sumrall was brought in as the new leader. That change wasn’t enough to convince Lagway to stay, despite a productive meeting with Sumrall. The reasons behind his departure from Florida have been widely debated, but Baylor head coach Dave Aranda offered a different perspective, likening Lagway’s situation to being in a straitjacket. “He’s very driven, there is a huge chip on his shoulder. I could see on the recruiting trip, … I could see someone that just wanted to be free,” Aranda said of Lagway. “Like (he was in) straight jacket, maybe, someone that is just all boxed in and boxed up and just wanted to be free, express himself, play free. And I think he’s felt that (freedom) … at Baylor.”
The notion of not being able to play with freedom makes sense, particularly in the context of Napier’s offense, which was notably segmented and allowed little room for creativity. How much of that rigidity was intentional to protect Lagway’s health remains a point of speculation, but Napier didn’t make many adjustments to accommodate a quarterback’s need to improvise. That dynamic speaks volumes about the culture under Napier, and it’s frustrating that things unfolded the way they did for Lagway.
This piece originally appeared on A to Z Sports, and you can read the full story here: “He’s smiling more” – Dave Aranda has harsh words for the Florida Gators regarding DJ Lagway. © 2026 A to Z Sports.