Diego Pavia (born February 16, 2002) is an American football quarterback. He began his college football career with the New Mexico Military Broncos, winning the 2021 NJCAA National Football Championship, and spent his next two seasons with the New Mexico State Aggies, where he was named the 2023 CUSA Offensive Player of the Year. Pavia played his final two seasons for the Vanderbilt Commodores, winning the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, SN College Football Player of the Year, and SEC Offensive Player of the Year in 2025.
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Early life
Pavia was born on February 16, 2002, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was raised in a single-parent household by his mother, Antoinette Padilla, who worked as a nurse. Pavia attended Volcano Vista High School in Albuquerque, where he was a three-sport athlete, playing football, baseball, and wrestling, the latter of which he won a state championship in. Despite being offered a partial college wrestling scholarship from Nebraska, he opted to pursue football. In his senior season of football, Pavia led Volcano Vista to an 11–0 record, completing 108 of 165 pass attempts for 1,485 yards and 14 touchdowns to five interceptions. He also rushed for 464 yards and nine touchdowns.
Pavia received no scholarship offers from any NCAA Division I school and only two Division II schools—Western Colorado and Western New Mexico—offered him a chance to play quarterback. In a 2024 ESPN story, Pavia recalled, "I just think they were scared of my height. People like to focus on height, weight and 40-yard dash times. I like to go off film. I move well. I feel like I throw the ball well. I feel like I run well. I just don't have God-given height and weight." He committed to play JUCO football at New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI).
College career
New Mexico Military Institute
In Pavia's career at NMMI, he completed 189 of his 323 passing attempts for 2,644 yards and 31 touchdowns to just four interceptions. He also rushed for 1,107 yards and 15 touchdowns. In 2021, Pavia's last season at NMMI, he led the Broncos to the NJCAA National Football Championship. He threw for 21 touchdowns in the championship season while being intercepted only once, and threw for two touchdowns and ran for one in the Broncos' 31–13 championship game win against Iowa Western.
Going into the championship game, New Mexico State University head coach Jerry Kill and offensive coordinator Tim Beck had decided to offer a scholarship to Iowa Western quarterback Nate Glantz. They had even called Iowa Western's head coach before the game to tell him that they planned to make their offer on the day after the game, and then went to a local Hooters to watch the game. According to CBS Sports journalist Dennis Dodd, "Besides greasy fingers from the wings, they also came out transformed. The quarterback for the winning team that day, New Mexico Military Institute, changed their minds." In Dodd's story, Beck recalled, "As we're watching the game and we're looking at each other ... we say, 'We're recruiting the wrong guy.'" Kill and Beck then told Iowa Western's coach that they were no longer interested in Glantz, who went on to play at FCS Lindenwood.
New Mexico State
Pavia committed to play college football at New Mexico State for the 2022 season. He got his first start with the Aggies on August 28, in the team's season opener against Nevada, and struggled mightily, turning the ball over four times in the first half before being benched, as the Aggies lost 23–12. He got his next start two weeks later against UTEP, and had a chance to tie the game at UTEP's 13 yard line, but was strip-sacked with three seconds left to end the game with another loss. Pavia had a career night on November 26 against Liberty. The Aggies entered as 24.5 point underdogs, but Pavia completed 16 of 21 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for an additional 125 yards and three more TDs, as the Aggies pulled off a shocking victory. For his performance against Liberty, Pavia was named the Manning Quarterback of the Week. In the season finale against Valparaiso, Pavia went nine for 13 on his passing attempts for 323 yards and four touchdowns, with one additional rushing touchdown, before leaving the game in the second quarter with a hamstring injury. New Mexico State won the game 65–3, becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 2017. In the 2022 Quick Lane Bowl against Bowling Green, Pavia completed 17 of 29 passing attempts for 167 yards and two touchdowns to just one interception, and also rushed for 65 yards. Pavia recovered his own fumble late in the fourth quarter to give the Aggies a first down and clinch the 24–19 win, earning Quick Lane Bowl MVP honors. Pavia finished the season completing 101 of 190 pass attempts for 1,450 yards and 13 touchdowns to six interceptions. He also rushed for 508 yards and six touchdowns. For his performance on the year, he was named All-Independent first team by College Football Network.
The following season, 2023, Pavia built on his performance of his first year at NMSU. Of particular note was a November 18 victory at Auburn, as he delivered a standout performance in New Mexico State’s 31–10 road upset, throwing for 201 yards and three touchdowns, adding 35 rushing yards, and even recording a body slam tackle after an interception to prevent a long return. His poise, versatility, and physical style of play against the SEC opponent were widely praised, marking one of the signature victories of his collegiate career.
On December 23, 2023, Pavia announced that he would enter the transfer portal. Meanwhile, he returned to NMSU for the spring semester to graduate. During a visit to Nevada, Pavia verbally committed to play for the Wolf Pack, and called Beck to let him know. A few minutes later, with Pavia still on the campus, Kill called to tell Pavia that he would be joining the Vanderbilt staff, and that he expected to see Pavia there.
Vanderbilt
On January 18, 2024, Pavia announced that he would transfer to Vanderbilt, following Kill there. He was also joined by offensive coordinator Tim Beck and teammate Eli Stowers. Upon arriving at Vanderbilt, he entered a quarterback position battle with Nate Johnson, a transfer from Utah. At the end of fall camp, Pavia was named the starting quarterback for the home opener against Virginia Tech. Drew Dickey was named his backup, as Johnson fell to third-string. On August 31, Vanderbilt opened the season at home as underdogs against Virginia Tech. Shockingly, Vanderbilt jumped out to a 17–0 lead in the first half, with Pavia throwing a touchdown to Quincy Skinner Jr. Virginia Tech managed a comeback, however, and the Commodores found themselves trailing 27–20 late in the fourth quarter. Pavia managed to tie the game in the final minutes with a touchdown pass to Sedrick Alexander, forcing overtime. In the first overtime period, Pavia ran in the winning touchdown, as Vanderbilt came away with an upset 34–27 victory. Pavia finished the game 12-of-16 for 190 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for another 104 yards and a touchdown. On September 7, Pavia went 10-of-13 for 83 yards while rushing for another 51 yards and a touchdown as Vanderbilt blew out Alcorn State 55–0.
After starting 2–0, Pavia and the Commodores began to struggle. On September 14, Vanderbilt played at Georgia State, and found themselves trailing 22–10 in the fourth quarter, their only touchdown coming on a Pavia pass to Junior Sherrill. The Commodores scored 22 points in the fourth quarter in a late rally, including Pavia's touchdown pass to Eli Stowers, but a late Georgia State touchdown on busted coverage sealed a 36–32 win for the Panthers. In the loss, Pavia went 18-of-33 for 270 yards and two touchdowns with 40 rushing yards, but it wasn't enough to complete the comeback. On September 21, the Commodores went on the road yet again to face No. 7 Missouri as massive underdogs. Pavia opened the scoring with a 65-yard touchdown pass to Joseph McVay in the first quarter, putting Missouri on potential upset alert. Missouri managed to rally in the second half, forcing Pavia to lead a game-tying drive in the third quarter. Heading into overtime at 20–20, Pavia threw a touchdown to Gabe Fisher to take a 27–20 lead. Missouri answered and Brock Taylor missed a field goal in double overtime to seal a 30–27 loss. Pavia finished the game 14-of-23 for 178 yards and two touchdowns, adding 84 yards rushing.
On October 5, Pavia led Vanderbilt to an upset victory over No. 1 Alabama, Vanderbilt's first win over a top-5 team in program history. In the game, he went 16-of-20 for 252 yards and two touchdowns while running for 56 yards.
Professional career
Pavia went unselected in the 2026 NFL draft, becoming the first Heisman finalist since Jordan Lynch in 2014 to go undrafted. His failure to sign with a team in the first day of undrafted free agency was the first time a Heisman finalist quarterback had failed to do so since 2004 winner Jason White went undrafted and unsigned.
On April 26, 2026, Pavia accepted the Baltimore Ravens' invitation to attend their rookie minicamp. On April 28, the Ravens signed Pavia to a three-year contract. Pavia was waived by the Ravens on July 23, to make room for Ethan Pocic on the team's 90–man roster.
In October 2026, Pavia stated that he was in negotiations to sign with the United Football League, with the blessing of UFL controlling owner Mike Repole.
Pavia was placed on the negotiation list of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in June 2024, before his graduation, giving the team exclusive rights to Pavia should he seek to sign with the Canadian Football League. Pavia's agent had preliminary discussions with the Blue Bombers in April 2026.