DJ Lagway’s arrival in Waco has already brought the kind of buzz that turns a college football season into a full-blown event. Now the noise has gotten even louder: the Baylor quarterback was named to the Maxwell Award watch list, putting him in the conversation for college football’s best all-around player.
That kind of recognition comes with baggage, especially for a player coming in with the kind of reputation Lagway carries. He was a five-star recruit, Baylor needed help at quarterback, and the expectations are already climbing fast. The Maxwell nod only cranks that pressure up another notch.
Offensive coordinator Jake Spavital didn’t exactly slow things down either. In comments to the media on Thursday, he made it clear how much he believes in his new quarterback.
“Yeah, there's a lot. Like I tell him every day that we have to take one point of emphasis, you know, and it's about installs and situational football,” Spavital said on Thursday
“I want to see just the confidence that, you know, like when he plays confident, I think he's one of the best quarterbacks I've seen and I want to make sure that like he is as confident as possible going into this game and into the first game of the season and that's just for me just to keep building and working with him and taking daily steps and stacking days and growing.”
That’s a pretty strong statement before Lagway has taken a snap in Waco, and it only adds to the spotlight. Still, Spavital’s track record is one reason Baylor brought him in, and this quarterback-coordinator pairing looks like one of the most important relationships in the program.
The challenge is obvious: Baylor is breaking in a new quarterback while also trying to build chemistry with a fresh group of pass catchers. That’s not the usual setup for a transfer quarterback, who often gets the benefit of established targets around him.
Lagway won’t have that luxury right away. Gavin Freeman, Dre’lon Miller, and Louis Brown are among the players expected to rotate in and try to become reliable options in the passing game.
Lagway can help smooth that transition by lifting the offense around him. That’s part of what great quarterbacks are asked to do, and it’s part of the path to something bigger than hype.
Of course, the quarterback gets too much credit when a team wins and too much blame when it loses. That’s just how the position works.
The source of the attention is simple, though: Lagway didn’t come to Baylor just to post numbers. He came to win.
His first chance to back that up comes in Week 1 against Auburn.
And if Baylor is going to turn this into a real Maxwell push, the path is pretty clear. The award often ends up going to a player on a winning team.
Fernando Mendoza of Indiana won it last year after an undefeated run to a national championship. Ashton Jeanty won it two years ago without being on an undefeated team, and Caleb Williams did the same at USC.
But it’s tough to picture the trophy landing with a player from a 5-7 team, which is where Baylor finished last season.
If Lagway can deliver in wins over Auburn, TCU, Arizona State, and Texas Tech, that would do a lot more than build a trophy case. It would give Baylor exactly the kind of momentum it’s been chasing.
In Other News...
Baylor May Have Found The Weapon Its Offense Desperately Needed
Baylor is heading into the 2026 season looking for a sharper version of an offense that never quite found its footing a year ago, and the early buzz in fall camp has centered on a receiver who could change the complexion of the group. Louis Brown IV, the San Diego State transfer, is back in the mix after spending much of last season sidelined by an injury, and his arrival gives Dave Aranda and new quarterback DJ Lagway a potential downfield target with real experience.
What has stood out to the staff is how Brown has looked in contested situations, the sort of plays that can flip a drive when an offense is still finding rhythm. In a system that needs more reliable playmakers around Lagway, Browns ability to win in traffic gives Baylor something it has been lacking, and if that shows up once the games count, the Bears may have found the kind of receiver who can change a defenses plans. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor's New-Look Offense Puts Jake Spavital In The Spotlight
Baylors offense is spending this stretch of the offseason figuring out how to replace the production and roles left behind by Josh Cameron and Michael Trigg, and the early answer has been to lean into versatility. With transfer addition Gavin Freeman among the new faces in the receiving room, offensive coordinator Jake Spavital has been talking through a group that can be moved around and deployed in different ways, giving the Bears more options as they reshape the passing game.
Spavitals task is less about forcing the new pieces into old spots and more about building packages that make the most of what this roster can actually do. That matters even more with a mobile quarterback like DJ Lagway in the mix, because the more the Bears can threaten defenses with motion, alignment changes and quarterback movement, the harder it becomes to settle in on one answer. For a Baylor offense looking to be less predictable this season, the creativity may start with how these receivers are used. [Read more 🡒]