Baylor QB DJ Lagway Sets Summer Goals Ahead of Crucial 2026 Season

After a 5-7 season, Baylor will need major improvements for the 2026 season.

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After two seasons at Florida, former five-star quarterback DJ Lagway is now in Waco looking to lead Baylor back to its winning ways. The Bears are coming off a 5-7 season, in which the defense and turnovers haunted Baylor.

Lagway had his own turnover woes in 2025 with the Gators. The highly-touted thrower threw 16 touchdowns but he also tossed 14 costly interceptions.

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Heading into 2026, Lagway has a few goals for himself. As spring practice ended for Baylor, Lagway said he wants to continue to lose weight — to better help him unleash his running ability and to stay on the field longer — along with being a leader for the Bears.

"Yeah, my biggest thing is, I want to continue to stay steady on my diet, continue to eat right and be able to shed more weight off of me," said Lagway. "My goal is to be lighter this year, be able to run and be able to last long throughout the season and be able to do whatever my team needs for us to win games.

"So that's my biggest thing and just continue to get better relationships, knowing the offense, knowing my guys, knowing my teammates and start to reach out to the defensive side more often and kind of just continue to build this whole thing together as it's supposed to be."

Pressure on the shoulders of Lagway?

Once Lagway initially chose to go to Florida, there was plenty of eyes on the top-five prospect. Things didn't go as planned for the Willis (TX) prospect, but now he heads to a familiar stomping ground in Waco to continue his football journey.

There is no secret that there is a mountain of pressure facing Baylor this fall. The Bears were expected to compete for a Big 12 title this past season, along with being a potential dark horse to make the College Football Playoff. Instead, the Bears were a bottom-feeder in the conference and won just five games.

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Coach Dave Aranda was asked about Lagway feeling the pressure, he noted that Lagway knows the expectations of him becoming the new starting quarterback for the Bears. Baylor needs Lagway to help the offense start quicker than it did a year ago — and win.

"Yeah, I mean, he wants to win," said Aranda. "And so he knows that there is a need to start fast and he knows what the expectation is to win. And he wants that for himself."

Fans will learn a lot about Baylor right away as the Bears will take on Auburn in the season-opener. Last year, the opening home loss to the Tigers was a signal of what was to come, but if Baylor can start the year off fast — maybe that will be the way of life.