‘He's smiling more' - Dave Aranda has harsh words for the Florida Gators regarding DJ Lagway

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Florida quarterback DJ Lagway (2) leaves the field after beating Florida State 40-21 during an NCAA football game at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, November 29, Florida beat Florida State 40-21.2025. Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun

Big 12 media day delivered a lot of fascinating quotes, including multiple about DJ Lagway’s time with the Florida Gators.

The Florida Gators were hoping that quarterback DJ Lagway was going to be the next great quarterback. We’ve seen three Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks in Gainesville, including the legend himself, Tim Tebow, and Lagway had great odds to win the award during the preseason.


Ultimately, Lagway decided to transfer to the Baylor Bears after struggling last season, both from a mental and an injury standpoint.

“Yeah, I say really, the cultivation of both [health and mental]," said Lagway. "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]."

Dave Aranda has harsh words for Florida Gators​

One thing that isn’t the same anymore from Lagway’s time in Gainesville is the head coach. Billy Napier was let go during the season and Jon Sumrall was hired. That wasn’t enough for Lagway to stay, even though he had a good meeting with Sumrall.

The why behind him leaving Florida has been widely discussed, but Baylor head coach Dave Aranda likened it 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."

Not being able to play free makes a lot of sense, especially with the context of Napier’s offense. It was very segmented, leaving little room for creativity. How much of that was built in to keep Lagway healthy? That is likely somewhat, but Napier didn’t do a lot of adjusting in that way for other quarterbacks.

That speaks volumes about the culture under Napier, and it’s frustrating that it ended the way it did.

This article was originally published on A to Z Sports. Read the full story here: ‘He's smiling more' - Dave Aranda has harsh words for the Florida Gators regarding DJ Lagway

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