Portal poaching candidates for Baylor after Florida fired Billy Napier
The mid-point of the college football season has seen the head coaching carousel already crank up and has seen its fair share of coaching already be given the pink slip. From UCLA's former head man DeShaun Foster being forced out after an 0-4 start, Trent Dilfer being shown the door at UAB after three seasons and a 9-21 record, and James Franklin being given $53 million after being relived of his services at Penn State, there's already mulitple head coach openings to be filled. Another domino in that pile fell on Sunday, as the Florida Gators let go of Billy Napier, after a four-year stint that saw him go 5-17 against ranked teams and 0-14 away from home.
With the new modification to the transfer portal window rule the NCAA granted to players of recently fired coaches, Gators players will now have to wait for a new, permanent hire to be made public, before being given 15 days to enter the portal. With that, any hope for 4-3 Baylor to pick up immediate mid-season reinforcement is dashed, but, we've got another installment in our portal poaching series, as we'll take a look at a talented Gator roster to see what pieces Baylor could and should be eyeing if these names decide to jump ship.
QB DJ Lagway
This would undoubtedly be the biggest portal splash of Dave Aranda Baylor era (for as long as he remains), and a transfer with some of the closest ties to the Bears. Lagway's father was a halfback for the Bears from 1987-91, and the Bears were the first offer for the younger Lagway as a ninth grader out of Willis, Texas, near the Houston area. Lagway has been inconsistent in his two years in Gainesville, but, he's completed 65% of his passes this season, and part of his struggles could be attributed to the four top-10 opponents the Gators have already faced this season.
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â LAG â (@DerekLagway) December 1, 2022
Lagway would immediatly enter the conversation of the most talented quarterback in the conference and securing a commtiment from him would further the momentum Aranda has generated on the recruiting trail. Offensive coordinator Jake Spavital isn't the one who recruited Lagway out of high school, even with Lgagway seemingly re-affirming his commitment to the Gators following Napier's firing, Lagway could take a glance of Spavital has done for Sawyer Robertson and be enticed.
DL Brendan Bett
Bett made the wrong kind of headlines earlier in the year, spitting on a South Florida offensive lineman in the Gators' Week 1 loss. Bett has totaled a sack and two tackles for losses in his redshirt sophomore, and would be a big boost to a Bears' defensive line that's been pedestrian outside of Jackie Marshall. As a redshirt sophmore, Bett could also offer multiple years of trench reinforcement, and help course correct the troubling trend of subpar defenses in the time that Dave Aranda has been here. Bett would be a big body on a defensive line that's been desperate for them in Aranda's defense that relies on lineman taking on mulitple defensive offensive lineman in his base 3-3-5 front. A reunion could make sense for both sides
TE Hayden Hansen
With the dynamic duo of Michael Trigg and Sawyer Robertson set for their last year in Waco, whoever comes in to play quarterback for the Bears next season will be looking for a reliable and safe target. Insert the 6'7 Hansen. A multi-year starter for the Gators, the Weatherford, Texas native, who was named to the John Mackey preseason award watchlist like Trigg, could provide a supersized security blanket for what could be a first-time starter in Walker White or Nate Bennett if Baylor doesn't find a quarterback in the portal. Not quite the athlete that Trigg is, but he could be automatic mismatch nightmare in redzone situations similar to how LSU deploys 6'7 behemoth Trey'dez Green. Listed as a redshirt junior on Florida's roster, Hansen could choose to come back less than two hours from his hometown to finish out his college career if he's unsure about his future at Florida
Outside of Hansen, the emergence of true freshman receivers Vernell Brown III and Eugene Wilson for the Gators, could make it a tight squeeze for fellow freshman receivers. With Josh Cameron and Ashtyn Hawkins set to depart, freshamn wideout Muizz Tounkara from the Houston area could be someone that be worthy of taking a chance on.
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Josh began covering Baylor athletics in July 2025. Before this, he previously wrote for Syracuse men's basketball and football at SI from 2022-24. As a former Division I defensive lineman at Prairie View, Josh is passionate about storytelling from a former athlete's perspective. When he's not covering Baylor, he enjoys traveling, listening to podcasts and music, and loves cooking a good meal.