Diego Pavia announces return to Vanderbilt for 2025 season

Diego Pavia has made it official. He will be back as Vanderbilt’s quarterback in 2025.

Earlier this month, Pavia was confirmed to have eligibility for the 2025 college football season as the U.S. District Court of Middle Tennessee granted the quarterback a motion for a preliminary injunction in his lawsuit against the NCAA. Pavia is arguing that the NCAA’s JUCO eligibility rules violate antitrust law in the way they limit NIL earning opportunities.

Late Saturday, Pavia took to social media to confirm that he will be using his eligibility to return to Vanderbilt.

While it had been widely assumed that Pavia would be back with the Commodores, Saturday’s post provided confirmation. It is the same day that the NCAA transfer portal window closed, though there will be other entrants as College Football Playoff games allow for players to enter the portal later.

Pavia played a big part in making it a 2024 to remember for Vanderbilt. Vandy beat Alabama and Auburn en route to a 6-win regular season, marking the first bowl game appearance since 2018. The Commodores then defeated Georgia Tech in the Birmingham Bowl for their first postseason victory since 2013.

Vanderbilt will play the same SEC opponents from the 2024 schedule in 2025.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.