Major college football program named landing spot for transfer DJ Lagway

DJ Lagway promptly became one of the most recognizable names in the college football transfer after the quarterback’s bombshell decision to leave Florida following the hiring of Jon Sumrall as head coach.

Now the arms race is on to attract Lagway and install him as the centerpiece of some school’s offense heading into the 2026 season, and one surprising contender has been named a program that could make sense for the quarterback.

That school? None other than Clemson, according to the latest analysis provided by ESPN college football analyst Max Olson.

Clemson is expected to be in the market for a new quarterback as senior signal caller Cade Klubnik is projected to enter his name into the NFL Draft this spring. Could the former Gator star be the answer?

Lagway considered Clemson

Major college football program named landing spot for DJ Lagway as transfer — Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Dabo Swinney’s program was considered a finalist to sign Lagway back when he was a highly-regarded five-star recruit, and even received an endorsement of sorts from the quarterback’s father.

Clemson was heavily involved in Lagway’s recruitment prior to his commitment to Florida, and was the first school to offer him a scholarship during his process.

Lagway made several visits to Clemson as a prospect, and even after his pledge to the Gators, they tried to flip him away from the SEC program before signing day.

Clemson doesn’t use the portal often

It’s no secret that Dabo Swinney and Clemson have been highly reluctant to use the transfer portal as a primary method of recruiting talent.

But with the prospect of landing a player of Lagway’s potential, there is a chance they could make an exception and change their approach.

Still, even despite their skepticism of the portal, it appears that Clemson is more interested in developing the quarterback talent they have on the roster already.

What Dabo Swinney has said

Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney has given Christopher Vizzina a strong endorsement, and true freshman Chris Denson is also in the picture.

“[Vizzina’s] done his part, and he’s been waiting his time, and now’s his time,” Swinney has said.

“Now, he’s got to win the job. Same thing with Denson. I mean, Denson didn’t come here to just stand on the sideline; he came here to compete, so let’s go compete.”

But even Swinney is keeping his options open.

“Guys may change your decision,” he also said.

“We could have somebody leave, I mean, we have no idea. Wouldn’t, again, I don’t speculate on that. All I can focus on is what’s here.”

What DJ Lagway has done

The quarterback finally got his chance to start full time in 2025, but the results were underwhelming as the Gators offense struggled overall with turnovers and inconsistent production.

Lagway completed under 60 percent of his passes with 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, but the raw material is still there.

He remains a physically impressive prospect with arm strength and mobility, nearer the beginning of his career than the end, and with real potential upside if put in the right system.

Those are traits that could convince Clemson to depart from its avoidance around the transfer portal and potentially make a call.

(ESPN)

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