Why Diego Pavia Was At Vanderbilt Football's First Fall Camp Practice

NASHVILLE—-It was natural on Tuesday to look behind the play at a guy in street clothes as Vanderbilt went live on its turf practice field. There, walking with his normal swagger, stood Diego Pavia.

Pavia ran this show a year ago and made his case to be considered the greatest Vanderbilt football player of all time, but Wednesday he was merely a spectator watching to see what his Alma mater is trotting out there in 2026.

“It's great to have him back,” Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Tim Beck--who also coached Pavia at New Mexico State--said. “I still wish he was playing for someone right now, and I know he does too, but it's exciting for us just to have him back and you feel his aura on the field when he's kind of around our players.”

Pavia is currently unsigned despite a 2025 season in which he was the Heisman runner up, led Vanderbilt to a program-high 10 wins and capturing the national spotlight. He went undrafted in the 2025 NFL Draft and signed with the Baltimore Ravens on a non-guaranteed deal. The Ravens released Pavia ahead of training camp.

As Pavia watched from the sideline alongside former Vanderbilt offensive lineman Chase Mitchell, Vanderbilt's staff evaluated its quarterbacks as they compete for the job that opened with Pavia's exit. Among the competitors are five-star freshman Jared Curtis and Pavia's longtime teammate Blaze Berlowitz. Pavia lobbied for Curtis to come to Vanderbilt, but has also promoted Berlowitz case as the program's quarterback of the future.

Vanderbilt expected Pavia to have a chance at making the Ravens' roster heading into the fall before his release and appears to have a program-wide belief that he could be an NFL player if he gets another chance to prove it.

“There's not a stronger case for someone having impact on the environment and being a winner,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea told Vandy on SI in the spring. “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.”

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