As offensive coordinator Jake Spavital enters his third spring in Waco, he faces the challenge of installing his system with a nearly brand-new unit that’s missing its starting quarterback, leading rusher, top five pass-catchers and four starting offensive linemen from last season.
With all the natural question marks that come with that much newness, Spavital is asking his players this spring to stay committed to the grind, saying in a recent press conference, “Be consistent and show up every single day, and give your best effort and learn from your mistakes. Overall, collectively as a unit, you’re starting to see the strides.”
He continued, “It’s a brand new team. We got a lot of new O-linemen, a lot of new receivers and a new quarterback. You’ve got to build this continuity up. You don’t know what some of these guys are capable of doing. I don’t know yet whether we’ll be a gap scheme team, an outside zone team or an inside zone team. We’re throwing it all at them, and they’re handling it pretty well.”
With Sawyer Robertson as Baylor’s starting signal caller for most of the last two years, Spavital and Robertson were on the same page on almost everything, which meant practice in 2025 was mostly spent fine-tuning and tweaking minor details. Now, Spavital is going back to the basics.
“We’re back out there on the grass, coaching even harder and teaching these guys the Day 1 install that Sawyer had mastered so many times,”
Spavital said. “That’s the part I love about a new group of men that come in, it’s their opportunity to make a name for themselves. The past two years, having top-20 offenses here, and the success they’ve had, Sawyer has an opportunity to get drafted right now and go through the process — Sawyer was running around out there today, and it was just fun seeing him — but it’s now time for the next people to step up and make a name for themselves.”
Speaking of Robertson’s replacement, there’s been a lot of talk and intrigue this spring about how Florida transfer DJ Lagway, the former No. 1 overall quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class, is easing into his new threads. So far, Spavital’s been most impressed by Lagway’s “elite arm” and his overall maturity on and off the field.
“The anticipation is the number one thing,” Spavital said. “When you’re in the SEC for two years, the timing and the pass rush are very important. The way he can cancel out reads and get to that next one is pretty elite right now. You can throw a lot at him, a lot of communication, but there is no panic. There’s just a lot of poise.”
Lagway’s also enjoying the welcome change of scenery in Waco, playing in Spavital’s high-flying, up-tempo system, a stark contrast from the offenses Lagway manned in his last two years with the Gators.
“Me and Coach Spav’s relationship has been great,” Lagway said. “Just his ability to let me be me and let me play freely. I feel good and am feeling like myself again. It feels good to just go out there and have fun with a coach who believes in me and wants me to succeed.”
Lagway talked quite a bit about how, when he’s having fun, things tend to go well on the field, and being at his father’s alma mater has been an incredible blessing that he’s now beginning to really appreciate.
“[Baylor] really started my love for college football,” Lagway said. “It really started the whole dream of mine to get here at this level. It’s crazy how God works. Every day I wake up, and it’s a blessing because I’m living five-year-old, six-year-old me’s dream, and more. I’m thankful.”
Off the field, Lagway has spent countless hours trying to build chemistry with his teammates, including a spring break trip to Miami with running backs and wide receivers, during which he paid for most of the expenses.
“DJ takes a lot of quality time in trying to build those relationships,” Spavital said. “They all went on vacation together on spring break. They’re all going to dinner. They’re all hanging out because DJ understands the importance of the locker room and how everybody needs to be on the same page and playing for each other. That’s going to be a fun little test to see just how these receivers develop.”
As for Lagway’s supporting cast in the backfield, Spavital was extremely excited for the running back group despite Bryson Washington’s departure to Auburn. The Bears are set to welcome back Dawson Pendergrass from injury, along with Caden Knighten and Michael Turner, who combined for 800 yards of offense as true freshmen, while also adding four-star recruit Ryelan Morris to the rotation.
“They’re going to be a lot better than what they were last year,” Spavital said of the running backs. “When you have Dawson, Mike and Caden, it’s a pretty good group. We got some guys like Ryelan Morris in the mix now, who’s done a lot of great things. We’ve got some weapons back there. We just have to keep working until they’re very comfortable with DJ, because injuries do unfortunately happen. But I do think that Dawson’s experience and leadership help those young guys as well. So it’s a really tight group right now.”
