Sports

DJ Lagway’s Last Two Head Coaches Will Be Paid $33 Million To Stop Working

by

Chris Jones-Imagn Images / Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

DJ Lagway's last two head coaches will be paid $33 million after being fired.


DJ Lagway finds himself in an eerily similar situation in his first season at Baylor to what he experienced in his final year at Florida. He will not finish the campaign with the head coach that recruited him.

Dave Aranda was fired after a one-point loss to Kansas. He will not coach the last five games of the regular season.

Aranda was hired in 2020. He coached the Bears for seven seasons. He posted a 40-40 overall record.

His best performance came in Year 2. Baylor went 12-2 to win the Big 12. They beat Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl to finish fifth in the final poll. Unfortunately, Aranda was not able to maintain success.

He went 22-28 over the next four seasons. This year’s team is now 4-3 after losing to the Jayhawks. Baylor opted to pull the plug.

Dave Aranda will be paid $12 million to stop coaching.

The head coach was paid north of $4 million annually. He signed a contract extension in 2022 that would keep him in Waco through 2029. He still has three years remaining on that deal.

Essentially, he’ll be paid his yearly salary to stop working. The search for a replacement is now underway.

For DJ Lagway, it’s a situation that’s becoming all too familiar. His last two coaches have been fired midseason.

Coaches paid $35 million to stop working.

Billy Napier was fired last October by Florida. He was paid $21 million to leave. That decision, along with other factors, led Lagway to transfer. Aranda convinced him to play at Baylor.

Lagway burst onto the scene as a freshman. He went 6-1 in seven starts. Florida finished the year 8-5 and won a bowl game.

Year 2 was much different. Lagway struggled mightily. He led the SEC in interceptions. The Gators went 4-8.

In his reasoning for the transfer, Lagway pushed much of the blame for his poor production onto Florida.

“I was in a bubble down there, I didn’t feel like a normal person. I didn’t even know what the campus looked like. I was really closed off. I didn’t really hang out with my teammates… I’m just excited to get out there with a group of guys that believe in me.”

-DJ Lagway

Aranda echoed that sentiment at Big 12 Media Day. He says Lagway was “in a straight jacket” in Gainesville.

“He’s very driven, there is a huge chip on his shoulder. I could see on the recruiting trip… I could see someone that just wanted to be free. Like (he was in) straight jacket, maybe, someone that is just all boxed in and boxed up and just wanted to be free, express himself, play free. And I think he’s felt that at Baylor.”

-Dave Aranda

Unfortunately, Lagway has been unable to find consistency at Baylor. The stat sheet looks better, but the wins still aren’t coming. As a result, his head coach has been fired.

Napier and Aranda will collect a combined $33 million in buyout money. DJ Lagway will soon have a third head coach in as many seasons. It will be interesting to see if he stays put in Waco or hits the portal once again in the offseason.