When DJ Lagway opted to transfer to Baylor in the offseason, most Gator fans figured it was probably for the best. Lagway looked like a broken QB in 2025, and it was probably better for him to get a fresh start.
Then a deep dive came out this week that detailed just how broken Lagway may have been while in Gainesville, and considering some of those were self-inflicted choices, comments he made at last year’s SEC Media Days have aged like milk.
Lagway’s comments didn’t match reality
We touched on the USA Today piece earlier this week, but if you missed it, the piece painted a picture that Lagway was depressed and isolated while at Florida. He claims to have done all of his classes online and that he didn’t go out on campus much. Perhaps the part that raised the most eyebrows was the admission that he also isolated himself from his teammates.
His new coach Dave Aranda stated:
“He’s worn from the Florida experience. It’s going to be a lot of work. All of the comments and critiques really hurt him. It’s about being able to have hard conversations, real conversations. We’ve been very intentional with that from the beginning.”
Essentially, the pressure to be a QB in the SEC got to him, and he seems happier at Baylor, where there are far fewer eyeballs on him.
That is a far cry from what Lagway told people last July at SEC Media Days. Social media sleuths dug up a quote from Lagway that wouldn’t have aged worse if it tried:
"Pressure is a privilege. Once you have pressure, that means people are counting on you to do big things. I'm always excited when people say pressure. That's why I just love game day atmosphere because it feels like all eyes are on you, and you've got to put on a show."
Go your own way
As Mike Tyson once said, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Lagway might have thought he was ready for the bright lights of the SEC, and once he arrived on campus, he realised he wasn’t. His attempts to emulate strength were merely masking the fact that he wasn’t the guy we all thought he was supposed to be.
But as we stated this week, it’s one thing if a star QB doesn’t want to interact with the public. That’s his right as a human.
It’s another thing, though, to isolate yourself from teammates when you are the face of a program that paid you anywhere from $3 to $4 million to be the face of the program.
Honestly, Baylor is probably a good spot for Lagway, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see him regain the spark that made him so electrifying in 2024. Just for his own sake, we hope he is honest about the process.