As the head coach of Vanderbilt, Clark Lea has met many young recruits. Considering the position of the Commodores in the SEC, there were times he had to sell the vision to young prospects who probably had other offers lined up. Diego Pavia was different from the outset, and it became clear to Lea when he first spoke with the Heisman finalist.

“The first time I talked to Diego on the phone, he said to me at the end of the conversation, ‘Coach, I look forward to coming to Vanderbilt and helping you win championships,'” Lea said in the episode on the Ryan Hawk show that aired on June 28. “And he hesitated before he said it. It was so genuine. It was like the first time that I had talked to someone, especially in a recruiting sense, where I wasn’t having to convince them of what we could do at Vanderbilt. That meant the world to me.”

Vanderbilt was at its lowest point in its history when Clark Lea took over in December 2020. In 2019, the program finished 1-7 in the SEC. The next season, the Commodores went winless in the conference. That included blowout losses to LSU and South Carolina. And even with Lea, Vanderbilt took some time to get going. Over his first three seasons, Vanderbilt was 7-27. But that’s when he crossed paths with the underdog Pavia.

Following a breakout season with New Mexico State, Pavia entered the transfer portal in December 2023. His recruitment was one for the books, and his interest was to get his name on the Vanderbilt roster. Because of Vanderbilt’s strict academic standards, Pavia had to finish his degree at NMSU. He initially pledged to Nevada but ultimately chose Vanderbilt, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions of his life.

Lea had a clear vision for his program, and he never had to over-explain or sell it to get Pavia to play for him. His decision to recruit Pavia proved itself in the season opener against Virginia Tech. Vanderbilt opened the game with a 17-0 lead. Everything unraveled in the second half of the game as the team got complacent with the lead. It turned chaotic on the sidelines, with players yelling at each other and some even crying. For the head coach, that was a total “circus” that was completely anti-Clark Lea.

In the second half, Pavia took over and silenced critics who doubted his build. He was the primary catalyst in securing a 34-27 win, leading a late fourth-quarter drive to tie the game before scoring the winning touchdown in overtime. Pavia had 294 total yards and three touchdowns, and the rest is history.

Pavia transformed Vanderbilt, leading to a 10-win season and Heisman-contending play last year. The conference also gave him SEC Offensive Player of the Year honors, marking the most successful period in the program’s modern history. In two seasons, Pavia had 5,832 passing yards, 1,663 rushing yards, and 67 total touchdowns.