Diego Pavia trashes Big Ten, reveals big NIL offer from SEC rival

Diego Pavia made it clear he wanted to play at Vanderbilt, especially after winning another year of eligibility from a judge’s order, but the quarterback revealed he had some big offers from other schools, including one in the SEC.

“It was less reaching out to me. It was more reaching out to, like, my brothers and my family and stuff,” Pavia told Bussin’ with the Boys.

Pavia confirmed to hosts Taylor Lewan and Will Compton that another SEC school had offered him an NIL package worth $4 million.

There were some other offers from the Big Ten, too, the quarterback revealed, but the idea of playing for that conference was not something he was willing to entertain.

“You want to play with the best. You don’t want to play with the Big Ten. You ignore those calls. You know that,” Pavia said.

Sure, the Big Ten has a couple good teams, but the SEC is a weekly gauntlet, he argued.

“You’ve got to think about this, too. The SEC is, like, nothing. Like, okay, the Big Ten, you have Ohio State, Oregon. The SEC, it’s like week after week. You’re going to get beat on. The Big Ten, you’re not gonna get beat on with the Purdues, Nebraskas,” he said.

SEC football is simply tougher in the trenches, the Vanderbilt quarterback noted.

“The best pass rushers are from the SEC, except, like, Abdul Carter,” he said.

“You’ll find one. You’ll have one or two. If the kid from South Carolina [Dylan Stewart] could’ve left, he would’ve been a first round pick.”

Pavia excelled in the SEC a year ago, posting 2,133 passing yards with 17 touchdowns while adding 716 yards on the ground and another 6 scores with his legs.

His best performance was also Vanderbilt’s signature victory, passing for 252 yards and 2 touchdowns to upset No. 1 Alabama.

Pavia and Vandy get their first chance to make another run on Aug. 30.

--

Read