“He's like the Nick Saban of Baseball,” Tim Corbin’s Role in Diego Pavia’s Rise
On a hot afternoon two summers ago, Jacob Humphrey was finishing a routine midday lift at the Mcgugin Center when a stocky, undersized athlete approached him with a confident strut that immediately stood out.
At the time, Humphrey — a Vanderbilt Baseball outfielder now in the Colorado Rockies farm system — had only heard of the new quarterback who transferred over from New Mexico State. Pavia wasn’t guaranteed a starting role under head coach Clark Lea, still needing to beat out Nate Johnson during fall camp. Still, when Pavia introduced himself, Humphrey sensed that he’d crossed paths with someone special.
“We met in the training room at McGugin,” Humphrey told Vandy on SI. “And [Pavia] was just one of the most confident people I’ve ever met. We were hanging out [over the summer], and he was like ‘dude, I’m the best three-sport athlete. Do you think Corbin would let me try out for the team? I’ll be a DH; I’ll do whatever you want.’”
Pavia was only half-joking. He genuinely wanted to take swings at Hawkins Field, but more importantly, he wanted to meet Tim Corbin — a coach he’d heard so much about that he referred to him as the “Nick Saban of Baseball.”
“Honestly, Pavia was just like, ‘Hey, I’d love to meet Corbs one day. He’s like the Nick Saban of baseball,’” Humphrey said. “So, I introduced him and told Corbs, ‘You’ve got to meet this guy.’”
When the two finally connected, it felt inevitable that their very different paths would at some point intersect. While Pavia had Lea and offensive coordinator Tim Beck guiding him on the field, he found just as much value in Corbin’s mentorship away from it.
“[Corbin and Humphrey] have helped me,” Pavia said on Friday. “You look at all these different aspects of life, and they bring it all to one vision — what’s the main picture? When I got driven off the road in my own head, coach Corbin kind of brought me back to Earth.”
Pavia said he meets with Corbin at least once a week during the season, conversations that span far beyond the football field and into outside life.
“He’s a true someone I could come to with anything,” Pavia said. “[He told me] everyone accepts me for who I am. I don't need to change. I don't need to be someone different. It was just ‘be yourself and play your game.’”
After all, it makes sense. The two-time national champion had made a name for himself as one of the best coaches in College Baseball history — not just because of his immense knowledge of the game, but because of his emphasis on character and leadership alonside performance. Holding what he calls “Vanderbilt classroom” sessions with his team in the mornings, Corbin spends 30-45 minutes on developing his players into respectable and mature humans. While the baseball team received his class lecture, Pavia benefited from his private “tutoring.”
“He’s the best coach in baseball,” Pavia said. “I’ve been in recruiting meetings with him; I’ve been in some of his team meetings.”
Humphrey, who had already played a full season under Corbin when he met Pavia, recognized immediately that the relationship would work perfectly.
“Diego is not afraid to speak his mind, and he’ll challenge you,” Humphrey said. “And Corbs loves that. [Corbin]’s not going to go out there saying he likes it, but he loves to be challenged.”
Though on the surface Pavia’s charismatic personality contrasts with Corbin’s measured demeanor, the quarterback has also exposed a lighter side of the winningest coach in school history.
“He’s hilarious,” Pavia said about Corbin. “Maybe you guys don’t see that side of him, but we have dinner every Sunday night with my whole family and him, and he loves to hear our stories too. He gets a kick out of that.”
Corbin’s presence around the football team this season has been more visible than at any point since the James Franklin era. He’s frequently appeared on the sidelines at FirstBank Stadium, but his most impactful contribution may have come before Vanderbilt’s regular season finale against Tennessee in the form of a pregame speech.
“Coach Corbin helped us win the game against Tennessee,” Pavia said.
🎥People describe Tim Corbin as a leader of men for a reason.
— Dylan Tovitz (@dtovitz) December 6, 2025
“You’re traveling with discipline, you’re traveling with spirit, you’re traveling with brotherhood, and you’re traveling with a tall glass of f*** me up juice.”
He also compared them to his 2019 championship squad. pic.twitter.com/Esk5GYRmUh
“You’re traveling with discipline, you’re traveling with spirit, you’re traveling with brotherhood, and you’re traveling with a tall glass of f*** ‘em up juice,” the typically reserved Corbin told Pavia and the team. “You’re going to get on that field tomorrow, and you’re going to say, ‘this is perfect Vanderbilt music.’”
Though Lea likely had a similar message, Corbin's voice — shaped by decades of leadership and sustained success — gave it additional weight. Now, both Corbin and Humphrey will be in Manhattan Saturday Night, supporting Pavia as he steps on College Football’s biggest individual stage.
“It means the world to me [to be here] because I’m so happy and so proud of him,” Humphrey said. “He’s really made his own way and it’s crazy to think that we’re here for one of the most prestigious awards in all of sports. And one of my best friends is going to win it.”
Dylan Tovitz is a sophomore at Vanderbilt University, originally from Livingston, New Jersey. In addition to writing for Vanderbilt on SI, he serves as a deputy sports editor for the Vanderbilt Hustler and co-produces and hosts ‘Dores Unlocked, a weekly video show about Commodore sports. Outside the newsroom, he is a campus tour guide and an avid New York sports fan with a particular passion for baseball. He also enjoys listening to country and classic rock music and staying active through tennis and baseball.