Exclusive: Why Clark Lea Believes Former Vanderbilt Football Star Diego Pavia Should Be Taken in NFL Draft
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NASHVILLE—Clark Lea can see it now.
He knows his former quarterback Diego Pavia may not be a high pick in the NFL Draft. He knows that he may not be drafted at all. But, he doesn’t appear to believe that where Pavia goes in the draft will define how this all ultimately plays out for Pavia.
“We may look up in 12 years and he’s still playing football in the NFL,” Lea told Vandy on SI. “That's the level of belief I have in Diego and I'm excited for him.”
Between his name recognition, off the field incidents, front and forward family, unique skillset, undersized frame and never-ending confidence, Pavia has become the most polarizing prospect in Saturday’s day three of the NFL Draft. Some love Pavia’s confidence. Some believe it to be arrogance and hold it against him. Everybody knows him, though.
They know what he’s done, too.
Pavia led Vanderbilt to a program-best 10-3 record in his final season at Vanderbilt while throwing for 3,529 yards, 29 touchdowns and eight interceptions. The season was good enough to put Pavia in the Heisman Trophy race. Now, he’ll see if it–as well as the rest of his body of work–is enough to allow him to hear his name called on national television on Saturday. Lea doesn’t know if it will happen, but he’s got no doubt in regard to whether it should or not.
“There's not a stronger case for someone having impact on the environment and being a winner,” Lea said. “He has incredible process and he's smart and so I think his improvement as a quarterback from 24 to 25 really was probably a story that needed a little more attention. I mean, I think the way that guy was throwing the ball making decisions reading coverage. Was as good as I've seen yeah he's got great command on the field. He's got that quiet presence and confidence in the locker room and so yeah I get what prototype is. I understand the things that he's working against, but there's so many things to me that are for him if people are paying attention to the body of work.”
Pavia was college football’s ultimate underdog as a result of the lack of interest that surrounded him as a high schooler, his stint at New Mexico Military Academy as well as the state of the New Mexico State and Vanderbilt programs when he arrived there. He proved to be a turnaround artist of sorts, though. Pavia often says that he’s never had a losing season, and he has some ground to stand on when he proclaims that.
Vanderbilt was coming off of a 2-10 season and a number of offensive staff changes when Pavia arrived on its campus in early 2024, but its was in the College Football Playoff race, hosted College Gameday and had its sidelines littered with celebrities by the time he was finished as its quarterback. The fanfare surrounding Pavia wasn’t noticeable when he first arrived at Vanderbilt, but he was perhaps the most popular player in Vanderbilt’s program history by the time he walked off the field in the moments after completing his magnum opus in Vanderbilt’s senior night win over Kentucky.
Pavia joked at NFL Combine Media Day that he wasn’t the “perfect child” to Lea and had to have a number of candid conversations with the Vanderbilt coach over the years. Lea has never coached a player as polarizing as Pavia was, but they’re both better off for their experience together.. Lea often said that he believed that Pavia was the best player in college football a season ago and that he wouldn’t choose anyone else to quarterback his team.
Now, he hopes that an NFL coach will say the same things one day. Perhaps hopes isn’t the right word.
“What I'm excited for is that whoever does select him, he's gonna become the favorite player in the organization just like he did here,” Lea said. “Again he's got an ability to relate to people, connect with people, build trust with people that I think advances everyone so I'm excited to hear his name called. I'd rather hear it earlier than later cause I think he deserves that but whoever takes him is gonna get someone who's gonna compete every day.”
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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