Baylor OC Jake Spavital Reveals What Has Surprised Him About DJ Lagway So Far

Sawyer Robertson and other playmakers from Baylor's 2025 offense are gone, but the cupboard is far from being empty. The Bears made a major splash this offseason when they signed former five-star signal caller DJ Lagway. He opted to head to Florida to begin his collegiate career, but after two seasons, Lagway made the move to transfer back home to Baylor.

The Bears were among his finalists when he chose the Gators. And after an up-and-down sophomore campaign in which Lagway threw 16 touchdown passes to 14 interceptions, Lagway has impressed Baylor offensive coordinator Jake Spavital in the early goings.

Poetry in motion 🌀 pic.twitter.com/pNxc253jG2
— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) March 29, 2026

"When it comes to DJ, DJ's great," Spavital said. "You can tell he's played a lot of football. I think it's around, what, like 20 starts that he's had in his career, so especially in the SEC. I think he handles a lot of the communication really well. They did a lot of that at Florida. And you just see the anticipation and the poise that he has, just back in the pocket.

"And I just think over the last three practices that we've had, I've had all sorts of different types of throws where you can layer the field. And he's got an elite arm, which is gonna be fun to watch some of these deeper concepts come in. But overall, DJ is handling it well, just how he is around the players. He's just a very mature, professional guy."

What has surprised Spavital?

While Lagway has played two seasons of college football, he is still a young gunslinger. Learning from Spavital, a coach who has worked with some elite quarterbacks like Johnny Manziel and Kyler Murray, should only help Lagway improve his skillset.

But there are a few things that have surprised Spavital from being with Lagway for a few days. He's impressed with his anticipation and his ability to not get panicked.

"Yeah, the anticipation is the number one thing," Spavital said. "It's just, when you're in the SEC for two years, you just see that the timing, the pass rush is very important. And the way he can cancel out reads and get to that next one is pretty elite right now. But you can throw a lot at him, a lot of communication.

"There is no panic. There's just a lot of poise. He just makes sure that everybody, and if it is screwed up, he knows that he can just live with something. And he'll tell you, hey, I just didn't wanna mess with it. I just feel like I was gonna get the ball out front side. And that's just a sign of just a ton of experience."