These former Gators are already receiving fresh hype at new programs

With SEC Media Days now in the rearview mirror, it means we are one step closer to actual football being played. Besides the fact that Florida will have a new head coach, Jon Sumrall, the Gators will also have a ton of new talent that rolled into to Gainesville. And for new talent to arrive, that means older talent needed to transfer out and find new homes for 2026.

With Big Ten Media Days still to go this week, these are just some of the notable former players and things that their new coaches or teammates have said about them at their respective media days.

Former Gators with new homes in 2026

DJ Lagway - Baylor

“I feel like he felt Baylor is a place that he could play free and really kind of be free. I'm all about that, man. So the opportunity to really kind of get to know him on a more personal level and get somewhere there's trust and where we got his back and he's got ours. And to really build that
relationship I think allows us to really impact the player that he can be, and excited for what's to come.

He has a huge chip on his shoulder. I will say that's pretty true of our team. To keep it to where it's, like, man, I'm doing all this stuff because I want to prove me right more than I'm trying to prove other”  - Baylor head coach Dave Aranda.

We’ve talked about Lagway’s new home here and there over the offseason and how he was presented at the Big 12 Media Days. This whole narrative where he can be “free” at Baylor feels like a massive misrepresentation of his time at Florida. Because if Lagway was, in fact, in a straitjacket while in Gainesville, it’s because he put himself into it.

Tre Wilson - LSU

“As soon as we met with each other, we just clicked, and it's just been a brotherhood ever since. Like I say, that's the game of football, just connect us so much, just our love for the game and how we go about our day-to-day lives and the sacrifices that we make to be a part of the LSU program is just amazing. It just brings us even more closer together.” - LSU TE Trey’Dez Green.

Wilson represents one of the great “what ifs” from the Billy Napier Era as he was one of the players Napier just never seemed to have a plan for beyond 37 motions a game. He is the type of player who could have done really well in Buster Faulkner’s offense, but he admittedly will probably also do really well in Lane Kiffin’s offense.

Pup Howard - USF

“He’s played in the SEC. The guy’s a leader. He’s obviously a great communicator, and he’s got to replace a couple great linebackers that we had at USF.” - Former NFL coach Jon Gruden.

When he was healthy, Howard was a really good linebacker for Florida, especially in the front half of the 2024 campaign. He was shuffled out and didn’t play after the week four game against Miami. Napier had hinted Howard was injured, though he didn’t really show up on the injury report.

Hayden Hansen - Oklahoma

“It's been great. Those guys come in. You don't know them at first but they're super willing to learn and they love each other and they hang out all the time. You go hang out in the tight end room, it's a good time. They get their work done, I'll say that. But they love each other and I love being around them.” - Oklahoma QB John Mateer.

When Hayden Hansen earned an 85 rating in the new CFB 27 video game, a ton of Gator fans were doing a double-take. Even if the assertion is that Hansen was more of a blocking tight end and did some things that went unnoticed or unappreciated, we would push back against that notion too. Thus, Hansen became a symbol as well for Napier’s offense and its insistence of using two tight ends when Napier didn’t really have two high-end tight ends to justify their usage.

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