Diego Pavia Takes Long Road To Highest Level Of College Football, When Only A Few Believed | Trey Wallace

Two weeks ago, the college football world was introduced to a new face of the SEC, as Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia came on the scene like a runaway freight train with a performance against Alabama that will be talked about for years to come around the football building in Nashville. 

But for those that follow the Sun Belt conference, or the SEC on a weekly basis, the quarterback from New Mexico had already established a following. It started at New Mexico State under former head coach Jerry Kill, but he was thrown into the spotlight on a national stage last season at Auburn, as he led his team to the upset win over the Tigers that shocked the college football world. 

It was two weeks ago that Pavia became the state champion of Alabama, leading his squad to a win over the highly-favored Crimson Tide, which catapulted him into the national spotlight on a different level that most never saw coming. 

The road to playing in the SEC was a long one for the 22-year-old quarterback, who was not highly recruited coming out of Volcano Vista High School in New Mexico. In fact, he was the one recruiting schools. Diego was part of the wrestling team, played baseball, but it was football that he wanted to pursue at the collegiate level, though life doesn’t always go as planned. 

There was one big problem for the spirited playmaker: he didn't receive many looks, and did not garner an FBS offer coming out of high school. So, Pavia enrolled at New Mexico Military Institute, where he passed for 1,728 yards and 21 touchdowns, helping lead his team to the NJCAA National Championship. 

Watch OutKick's full interview with Diego Pavia

AUBURN, ALABAMA - NOVEMBER 18: Quarterback Diego Pavia #10 of the New Mexico State Aggies celebrates after defeating the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium on November 18, 2023 in Auburn, Alabama. (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)

But there was more to the story for this scrappy young kid with big aspirations. Diego wanted to play at the next level, so he did everything he could to grab the attention of FBS coaches across the country, sending out countless emails and DM's on a daily basis. Four years later, Diego looks back on that time as a blessing, as Jerry Kill gave him a shot at playing for New Mexico State. 

"I wanna be at my best every single game to show everyone what I can do," Diego Pavia told OutKick this week. "Obviously, I emailed every coach in the country and no one responded. We actually joke around, me and Coach (Larry) Black. When he was at Toledo, I DM'd him on twitter and he followed me the other day and said ‘I didn’t even see this’. I literally DM'd every coach in the country, everyone had a shot at me. 

"I'm just super thankful that Coach Jerry Kill took a chance on me. God has a plan, and everything happens for a reason."

Watch OutKick's full interview with Diego Pavia here.

Relationship With Jerry Kill Is The Reason He's At Vanderbilt

That relationship between Kill and Pavia moved from New Mexico to Nashville when the former head coach resigned, and then took a role on the Vanderbilt staff. If there was one player that the Commodores could use, it was Diego Pavia, who had already committed to another school before Vanderbilt picked up the phone and offered him, changing his college trajectory and brought him to Nashville. 

"You know, I love having Coach (Jerry) Kill here and Coach Beck as well," Diego mentioned about his former NMSU coaches, now at Vanderbilt. "They are the backbone to what I do, they let me play free. They know I'm gonna make some mistakes on the field, you know I'm gonna make up and do some crazy stuff too. Just having them there for me, and supporting me in everything I do. They know what works best for me.

"I wanna be a better version of myself every time I touch the field for my teammates, and give us a better chance to win. Just having everyone here just bought in is such a huge deal."

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 05: Diego Pavia (#2) looks on during a game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at FirstBank Stadium on October 5, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Vanderbilt Athletics/University Images via Getty Images)

When you talk to Diego, you can tell he plays with a chip on his shoulder, knowing how hard he had to work for this opportunity to play in the SEC. Moving that far away from home is something he had to do for his future, and that meant his family would have to make long trips to Tennessee to watch him play, but as he mentioned, they have been there with him every step of the way, which fuels him to be better. 

NIL Offers Are Great, But Diego Feels They Should Be Incentive Based

In this day and age of NIL playing such a major role in where a player will sign, or how much a school can offer to entice a player, Diego Pavia looks at it a different way. As i wrote about last week, Pavia is the perfect example of what NIL should've been when it was first introduced, playing your way into opportunities. 

As I discussed this with Pavia, it was something he had thought about during his collegiate career, pointing out that it should be an incentive-based program. 

"What I think it should move onto is incentive-based deals. You play good, they pay good," Diego explained. "That's what I believe, and I hope it moves in that direction of the NIL. Obviously that kinda turns into pay-for-play, I hope there's a baseline, then an incentive-based deal, so kids aren’t breaking the bank that are just high-profile athletes that aren’t playing the role that they should. 

"I believe in incentive-based, that's how I told, I kinda wanted it. Cause I know what I can do, but they said that they couldn't do that."

It's clear that Diego has a point about where we're headed in college athletics, and some of the deals these athletes are getting, and then not performing on the field. Sure, the hurdle is ‘pay-for-play’, but you're already doing that with the revenue sharing, which will lead to more high-profile players on rosters receiving more than their teammates. 

Diego Has Built His Reputation On Hard Work, Determination

As Vanderbilt prepares for a matchup against Ball State this weekend, Diego is going to play, even if he was banged-up against Kentucky, noting that the only was he was coming our of that game was if the training staff had to amputate his leg. He also looks at the fight his coach Jerry Kill has battled over the last number of years, and knows that his bruises don't compare to what his former head coach has gone through. 

In a world filled with characters and stars beside a kids name, Diego Pavia took the long road to achieving success at the highest level of collegiate football. He's humble, but also has a spark that certainly reminds folks of a player like Johnny Manziel. 

But at the end of the day, he didn’t have it like other starting quarterbacks in this conference, and that's what drives him to get better each and every week. 

It's a shame we only get to see Pavia play one season in the SEC, but I can promise you he will make sure everyone remembers his name. 

If we're being honest, he's already done that against Alabama and Kentucky, but Diego wants to help lead his team down the stretch to a championship, and that's what he'll be remembered for the most around Nashville, and college football. 

The competitor in Diego Pavia would not have it any other way. It's all part of his story.