NASHVILLE - Diego Pavia was back on Vanderbilt’s practice field Tuesday, but not in the role everyone got used to seeing last season. This time, he was in street clothes, moving around with his usual swagger while the Commodores opened fall camp and took their first live reps on turf.
A year ago, Pavia was the guy running the show. He turned himself into a case for the greatest Vanderbilt football player of all time, and now he was standing on the sideline watching what his old program has in store for 2026.
“It’s great to have him back,” Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Tim Beck 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’s status is still unsettled after a 2025 season that put him squarely in the national conversation. He finished as the Heisman runner up, helped lead Vanderbilt to a program-high 10 wins and drew plenty of attention along the way. He went undrafted in the 2025 NFL Draft, then signed with the Baltimore Ravens on a non-guaranteed deal before being released ahead of training camp.
While Pavia watched from the sideline with former Vanderbilt offensive lineman Chase Mitchell, the Commodores’ staff got to work sorting through the quarterback battle created by his departure. Five-star freshman Jared Curtis is in the mix, along with Blaze Berlowitz, Pavia’s longtime teammate. Pavia had pushed for Curtis to come to Vanderbilt, and he has also backed Berlowitz as the program’s quarterback of the future.
Vanderbilt went into the fall expecting Pavia to have a shot at making the Ravens’ roster, but the program still seems to believe another NFL opportunity is out there for him.
“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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