![Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier and Florida Gators quarterback DJ Lagway (2) watch during spring football practice at Heavener Football Complex at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, March 6, 2025. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_105,w_5098,h_2867/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ReutersImages/mmsport/213/01kx1x8x5jvzv088j8fy.jpg "Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier and Florida Gators quarterback DJ Lagway (2) watch during spring football practice at Heavener Football Complex at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, March 6, 2025. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]")
Apparently, this is the week that we start finding out exactly how big of a mess the 2025 Florida Gators were. On Tuesday it was Billy Napier making the confession that he was not only a terrible play caller, but he also managed to hire about 70 assistant coaches that he refused to trust with anything.
Today the fallout continued as Baylor coach Dave Aranda spoke about DJ Lagway's time in Gainesville and, as expected, the hot-seat coach of the Bears said the picture his quarterback painted was not a complementary one.
NEW: Baylor's Dave Aranda says QB DJ Lagway's experience at Florida was like wearing a "straight jacket":
— On3 (@On3) July 8, 2026
"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 at Baylor."https://t.co/Ei0J3bN5m2 pic.twitter.com/xJI9QE8gRL
Here's Aranda's full quote:
“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. Like a 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.”
Most of this checks out. Lagway himself has said that he was never really happy in Florida. Some of that probably came from trying to function in Napier's horrible scheme that didn't allow any kind of creativity or rhythm from a quarterback. And he also had to deal with the pressure of being the guy that was tasked with saving Napier's job.
READ MORE: Former Florida QB DJ Lagway is clearly ready for a fresh start at Baylor
DJ Lagway made a tough situation even tougher while he was at Florida
Lagway admitted that he went in a shell while he was in Gainesville, and I'm sure he isolated himself more and more as things got more difficult and the losses were piling up. Again, I don't blame him for the whole situation. Any quarterback playing under Napier was going to struggle because the offense was trash, and he wasn't good enough to call plays in the SEC.
Aranda said that the Lagway he has seen at Baylor is a different person.
“He’s smiling more, he’s open more, he’s engaging with teammates more. He’s taken the O-line out to eat, he’s taken the receivers off to (practice) seven-on-seven, or they’re at his house watching films. So guys are connected to him and want to play for him, they don’t want to let him down.
Baylor should be a better fit for Lagway. He is closer to home. His dad played at Baylor and didn't embrace life in Gainesville. Both sides are better off. I don't think Lagway would've meshed well with the high-energy personality of Jon Sumrall, and it was pretty evident from their meeting that such a union wouldn't have worked out.
Florida has moved forward and fans are looking forward to what the Gators offense can do under Buster Faulkner, someone who has actually had a successful career of calling plays. Meanwhile, Lagway may have escaped the life he didn't want in Gainesville, but he still needs to play well to save his coach's job. That didn't work out the first time and if it doesn't work out at Baylor, maybe Lagway simply is what he is.
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