With SEC Media Days in the books, the spotlight is already shifting toward the next wave of football chatter, and that includes a handful of former Gators who are drawing fresh buzz at their new stops. Florida’s roster is changing under new head coach Jon Sumrall, but some of the players who moved on are now hearing their names in a different setting as their new coaches and teammates talk them up this week.
DJ Lagway’s move to Baylor has come with a lot of attention, and Baylor head coach Dave Aranda made it clear why the staff believes he fits there. “I feel like he felt Baylor is a place that he could play free and really kind of be free.
I'm all about that, man. So the opportunity to really kind of get to know him on a more personal level and get somewhere there's trust and where we got his back and he's got ours.
And to really build that
relationship I think allows us to really impact the player that he can be, and excited for what's to come.
He has a huge chip on his shoulder. I will say that's pretty true of our team. To keep it to where it's, like, man, I'm doing all this stuff because I want to prove me right more than I'm trying to prove other” - Baylor head coach Dave Aranda.
That “free” framing has been part of the conversation around Lagway’s new home, and it’s a storyline that surfaced again during Big 12 Media Days. The idea, at least from Baylor’s side, is that he can thrive in an environment built around trust and confidence.
Tre Wilson is also generating optimism at LSU, where teammate Trey’Dez Green described how quickly the connection formed. “As soon as we met with each other, we just clicked, and it's just been a brotherhood ever since.
Like I say, that's the game of football, just connect us so much, just our love for the game and how we go about our day-to-day lives and the sacrifices that we make to be a part of the LSU program is just amazing. It just brings us even more closer together.” - LSU TE Trey’Dez Green.
Wilson’s Florida career always felt like one of the big unanswered questions from the Billy Napier era. He was the kind of player who could have fit nicely in Buster Faulkner’s offense, but there’s also a strong case that he’ll do plenty of damage in Lane Kiffin’s system too.
Pup Howard landed at USF, and former NFL coach Jon Gruden had praise ready for him. “He’s played in the SEC.
The guy’s a leader. He’s obviously a great communicator, and he’s got to replace a couple great linebackers that we had at USF.” - Former NFL coach Jon Gruden.
Howard was a solid linebacker for Florida when he was healthy, especially early in the 2024 season. After the Miami game in week four, he was moved out and didn’t play again, even though Napier had suggested he was dealing with an injury without really showing up on the injury report.
Hayden Hansen is now at Oklahoma, where quarterback John Mateer said the tight end group has already made a strong impression. “It's been great.
Those guys come in. You don't know them at first but they're super willing to learn and they love each other and they hang out all the time.
You go hang out in the tight end room, it's a good time. They get their work done, I'll say that.
But they love each other and I love being around them.” - Oklahoma QB John Mateer.
Hansen also turned heads when he earned an 85 rating in the new CFB 27 video game, which had plenty of Gator fans doing a double-take. The argument that he was mainly a blocking tight end and did a lot of little things that went unnoticed or unappreciated has been floated, but that idea doesn’t really hold up here either. For Florida, Hansen ended up becoming another symbol of Napier’s offense and its heavy reliance on two tight ends even when the roster didn’t really feature two high-end tight ends to support that approach.
In Other News...
Florida Fans Just Got An Unexpected Glimpse Of Jon Sumrall
Florida fans got an unexpected off-field snapshot of Jon Sumrall this week, and it came from his wife Ginny during the programs annual Ladies Clinic. The revelation added a lighter note to a coach whose public image has been built around intensity, detail and the kind of edge Florida hopes will keep showing up on the field and on the trail.
It also offered a reminder that Sumralls arrival in Gainesville has already been about more than sideline energy. He has kept essentially everyone he wanted to keep and has Floridas 2027 recruiting class hovering just outside the top five, which only makes the extra attention around his personal habits feel like another small footnote in a much bigger early run. [Read more 🡒]
Todd Golden Just Added Another Intriguing Test To Florida's 2026 Slate
Floridas 2026-27 non-conference schedule is starting to take shape, and the latest addition gives Todd Golden another early look at a program that has been a comfortable matchup in the past. Vermont is reportedly set to visit on Dec. 6, slotting in as Floridas first game after the Gators host Duke in the SEC-ACC Challenge, which makes for a tidy but demanding stretch in the middle of the winter calendar.
It also adds another layer to a slate that is already shaping up to be busy and varied, with Jacksonville, Merrimack, Milwaukee, Georgia Tech, Miami and a trip to the Players Era Eight Tournament in Las Vegas all part of the mix. For Florida, the broader picture matters as much as the individual opponent, because these games are the kind that help define how polished the Gators look before the conference grind really settles in. [Read more 🡒]