Diego Pavia’s $1.6M Vanderbilt Fortune Takes Dark Turn as Clark Lea’s Costly Blunder Revealed in Blunt Exposé

Diego Pavia has become an instant role model for thousands of junior athletes who are battling for their JUCO years to be excluded from their overall collegiate year eligibility. He just came fresh off a legal win over the NCAA ruling that counted him out of one more year at Vanderbilt. Pavia countered the authority, suggesting the antitrust caused the athletes to miss out on their NIL money. In the federal court judgment, he stood strong and got his demand granted. Although it’s still not a final verdict, as the NCAA can still appeal against the decision, Pavia had some temporary edge over the situation.

But now, with all the fights and crusades, the question arises about his playing capacity, and here is how. It might seem a bit odd as Pavia led the Commodores to their best start, grabbed the AP top 25 ranks twice, and chose to return to the school, but insider Corey Burton thinks he alone can’t be enough to run the Vandy QB room.

Diego Pavia’s Vanderbilt future brutally exposed

Last year, Pavia significantly contributed to the Commodores’ offense. The standout Alabama transfer threw for 2,293 yards and 20 touchdowns with just four interceptions. He also led Vandy (7-6) in rushing with 800 yards and eight touchdowns. His performance against Alabama quickly led to his name being whispered as a Heisman candidate. But the confusion over his availability for another season kind of ruined the momentum and flagged an alert for coach Clark Lea to add some QB backups from the portal. Did he listen to that? He clearly didn’t.

Explaining the tottering trust in Pavia, Burton said on his Locked-On Vandy podcast,” “He’s going to try; I don’t know how successful he’ll be, but you know he’s got to try. So, this is going to be a good pivotal year for him, but what’s behind him? Who’s going to win the QB2 job? That’s the question that we’ve got to answer because, you know, with Pavia getting banged up, with Pavia, you know, playing the way he plays, I think it’s important to have a quality backup that’s pretty similar and can give you a similar impact.”.

In 2024, OC Tim Beck used Nate Johnson as a change-of-pace quarterback, but he didn’t get exposed to throwing the ball that much. So, you can’t totally trust him as a passer.

”When Pavia gets banged up or, let’s say they’re in a blowout and you want to get some guys some work like I think last year with Nate Johnson, they felt okay with him, but you could tell when that when he came in, they just weren’t comfortable unleashing him, and I think that caused them to rush Diego Pavia back,” the insider dished doubts on Pavia’s performance in a doomed game against South Carolina. ”I’m not sure there’s some—there are some things where he shouldn’t have done because I felt like he had to rush back because they just felt like they didn’t have anything behind him.” 

Despite being a dark workhorse for the team throughout the season, Pavia exposed his vulnerabilities big time against a massive 7-28 loss against South Carolina. He got sacked twice in the game and received a lower-body injury, another possible horror that made his 2025 ride an unsure catastrophe.

Can Pavia’s injury proneness play a factor in Vanderbilt’s 2025 success? 

Pavia has showcased a lot of potential in 2024, but at what cost? He put his body on the line and, most of the time, couldn’t defend it well and ended up receiving multiple injuries throughout the year. He dealt with rough shoulder and knee injuries earlier in the season but was able to pick up the pace from the Birmingham Bowl.

In a game against Texas, he received a tear on his body during a running play in the second quarter and was immediately taken to the medical camp. Nate Johnson suited up and finished the game. However, the one thing to notice about Pavia is that he barely let the injury stop him for long. He showcased tremendous resilience and got back to the game later in the drive. He never missed more than a handful of plays.

However, despite the stout tenacity he possesses, the similar or even bigger injury risk lies in the approaching year for obvious reasons. If Clark can’t be more protective of his $1.6 million QB, it won’t be a surprise if Pavia falls victim to a prolonged injury, propelling him to miss a series of matches.

”The way they handled the quarterback position, and some of that could have just been Diego Pavia going into the injury tent and saying, hey sc— you guys, I’m not coming out of this game, and you know that wouldn’t surprise me either,” Burton added. If history repeats itself, only God can save Clark and his team from a QB disaster.