WACO, TX — DJ Lagway’s legend began as a 10-year-old on the practice fields of Willis, TX, a town of roughly 6,500 people 50 miles north of Houston on IH-45. His dad, Derek, was his Pop Warner coach and the way he’d practice defense was simple if not controversial. 

Derek would line up the entire starting defense on one side and the young Lagway by himself with the ball on the other line of scrimmage. It was 11 vs. 1. The goal was simple yet nearly impossible: Tackle DJ 

“People probably thought I was crazy, but he’d score on them probably 7 out of every 10 times,” Derek recalled with a laugh. “That’s how we practiced defense. If we can stop him, we can stop the rest of them.” 

Defenses in Texas would struggle to tackle Lagway for most of the next decade. He made varsity as a freshman and left Willis High School as Mr. Texas Football and the Gatorade Player of the Year in 2023 when he threw for 4,604 yards and 58 touchdowns. In 42 games on varsity, Lagway accounted for over 10,000 total yards and 100 touchdowns. He became a five-star prospect with an offer from nearly every major program in the nation. 

Lagway tried to not let the attention go to his head. A Rolodex of famous coaches from prestigious college programs walked the halls at Willis hoping for his services, including then Alabama head coach Nick Saban. The one that both Lagways say was the most impactful came from Georgia, when then offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who is now the head coach of Baltimore Ravens in the NFL, stopped by to offer DJ two days after the Bulldogs won the 2022 national championship over TCU. 

But it wasn’t Saban or Georgia who won the Lagway Sweepstakes. That was Florida and head coach Billy Napier. Lagway says he grew up following two programs – Florida and Baylor. His dad played at Baylor, but the Gators’ colors and growing up watching Tim Tebow gave the out-of-state program a leg up. 

Lagway played in 12 games and started seven times as a true freshman, breaking a Florida true freshman record with 456 yards passing in his first start and ending the season with a 6-1 record as a starter, including back-to-back wins over Top 25 teams in LSU and Ole Miss. The Gators became his team in the second half of a road game against Tennessee midway through the year when starter Graham Mertz was injured. It was an environment that Lagway will never forget. 

“You know how like in the video game they have the stadium pulse? That’s actually real,” he said. “The stadium is shaking. I couldn’t hear anything. It was the loudest thing I’ve ever experienced. I was just a kid from Willis, Texas and I’m out here on this stage living my dream. It was a blessing.” 

Lagway was a Freshman All-American who was poised to break out as a national star and a potential Heisman candidate heading into 2025, but that never materialized. Nagging injuries stole his offseason and kept him from participating for most of the spring and summer. On top of that, his head coach was on the hottest seat in college football. Florida struggled, as did Lagway, and that led to a losing season and Napier’s firing. 

“Missing the spring and summer with injuries is the hardest thing you could imagine as a quarterback,” Lagway admitted. “Being a 19-year-old kid with the weight of the world on his shoulders and not being able to do the thing that you love to do is really hard.”

Derek knew his son was struggling with injuries and says that Lagway couldn’t run two weeks before the season because of groin and lingering hamstring issues. Lagway also dealt with persistent shoulder issues during his two seasons at Florida. Sitting out was never an option for Lagway, he says. But that doesn’t mean his father doesn’t hold some regrets. 

“As a parent, if I could change something, I would’ve told him to redshirt,” Derek said. “That was a lot of pressure on a 19-year-old kid, and I think he did decent with it. He didn’t have the year he expected or we expected, but it was good to go through what he went through because it will make him stronger later.” 

The plan wasn’t to leave Florida after Napier’s firing. But that changed when the Gators hired Jon Sumrall from Tulane. The new head coach and the star quarterback weren’t on the same page and that forced Lagway into the transfer portal. He had plenty of options, including Virginia, Ole Miss, and Duke, but he chose to return to Texas and play for Baylor – his dad’s alma mater and a program Lagway spent most of his weekends watching growing up. 

“Baylor has always been a part of my life. It is the origin of me falling in love with college football and wanting to play at this level,” Lagway said from inside the football facilities in February. “Me coming up here as a kid and seeing the facilities and envisioning myself being at a place like Baylor gave me the dreams and aspirations to go chase it, that it was possible. Baylor has always had a special place in my heart.”

Derek, a former running back, says the motorcycle accident that forced him to retire from the sport took away his love for the game. A love that only returned when he was coaching his two sons growing up. It is a full-circle moment for the family and while the first two years didn’t go as predicted at Florida, they believe a bigger plan was revealed.  

“It is awesome that DJ is at Baylor,” Derek said. “I can’t wait for the first game and to hear his name being called there. When he started playing and I was coaching him, we were the Baylor Bears. It was God’s plan to end up at Baylor and it is going to be fun.”