From the moment that DJ Lagway committed to Florida, there was a lingering hope that he was about to be the next Tim Tebow. On paper, he had all the physical tools needed to go down as a Florida legend, and there were times during his freshman year that he flashed that five-star potential that was going to single-handedly save Billy Napier.
Even this time last year, he was surrounded by hype, on the cover of CFB 26 and seen as a darkhorse candidate for the Heisman. Fast forward a year, and none of that hype came to fruition as Napier was fired and Lagway wasn’t a fit for Jon Sumrall.
Now at Baylor, Lagway seems to want a fresh start and leave the past behind in Gainesville
Former Florida QB DJ Lagway ready to move on at Baylor
In an interview with On3’s J.D. PicKell, Lagway was asked throughout the interview about his move from Florida to Baylor. For the most part, it felt clear that Lagway is ready to put the past two years in Gainesville behind him, and he was very cautious about placing blame on anyone or saying anything too direct.
But there was one quote he made that would make an eagle-eyed observer raise an eyebrow or two. Lagway was asked how his offseason was going compared to the chaos of last year. Lagway commented:
“Just going through that process of just missing the whole off-season and really not being able to spend that time with my guys, man, that really hurt me a lot. And really just reflecting on how would I do things differently this upcoming season.
And right after the season, I was still up in Gainesville, actually. I had my trainer. He came like a high school trainer that I've been training with since I was in seventh grade. He came up there to Gainesville, spent like 20 days just kind of basically getting my body right and being able to have confidence and kind of getting myself feeling like myself again.
I feel like we've been just crafting and working on different things and being able to feel like myself again.”
Lagway isn’t wrong that missing the off-season last year was a far bigger detriment to his development than anyone was allowed to admit in real time this time last year.
But his quote about “Really not being able to spend that time with my guys, man, that really hurt me a lot,” doesn’t align with the deep dive piece he did back in March with USA Today. Back in March, Lagway stated:
“I was in a bubble down there, I didn’t feel like a normal person. I didn’t even know what the campus looked like. I was really closed off. I didn’t really hang out with my teammates.”
We here at Hail Florida Hail are not sitting here trying to play a game of gotcha; we are just trying to make sure the narrative stays consistent. Because the way Lagway tried to explain things back in March, he was already closed off from his teammates long before the injury that kept him out of all of last offseason.
And when he goes on to tell PicKell, “I'm just excited to get out there with a group of guys that believe in me,” it paints the picture that he was doubted in Gainesville by people inside the building, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
What’s done is done, and Florida fans as a whole don’t harbor too much ill will towards Lagway. It’s a reminder that when Lagway states, “It's been quiet, and I'm thankful for that,” that the bright lights of The Swamp may not be for everyone.
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