Before Vanderbilt, Diego Pavia once asked Auburn's Hugh Freeze to ‘come get me’

Diego Pavia will go down as one of Vanderbilt football’s greatest players of all-time and one of the school’s best athletes as a whole. 

But before Pavia connected with Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea and the Commodores — before Pavia's former coach at New Mexico State, Jerry Kill, joined the fold in Nashville — the Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback asked Auburn coach Hugh Freeze to grab him out of the transfer portal. 

That’s how Pavia told it during an appearance on Jon Gruden’s QB Class show for Barstool Sports. The two spoke ahead of this month’s NFL Draft, where Pavia is projected as a late-round pick. 

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Gruden and Pavia reviewed highlights of Pavia and his former New Mexico State team’s 31-10 upset at Auburn in 2023. It was a milestone in Pavia’s career to that point. He completed 19-of-28 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns, while adding 35 rushing yards on eight carries. 

The Aggies were 25-point underdogs and had never beaten an SEC team in 23 tries. 

“Auburn. This is your signature moment, isn't it? This is when the world started finding out about you, am I right?” Gruden asked. 

“Oh for sure,” Pavia said. “The week before, I pulled my hamstring. So I really wasn't supposed to play (that) week. But I was like, 'No this is my time.' Everyone’s hitting the transfer portal, moving up. I’m thinking, if we put these guys away, Auburn’s going to offer me.

After we beat them I went up to coach Hugh Freeze and said, ‘Dude, come get me. Come get me.’ He just laughed it off.” 

Luckily for Vanderbilt — and Pavia — it didn’t work out that way. 

Pavia was the 2024 SEC Newcomer of the Year and followed that with a Heisman-worthy season in 2025, compiling 4,018 yards (3,192 passing and 826 rushing) with 36 touchdowns (27 passing, nine rushing) while leading the Commodores to a school-record 10 wins. 

How Diego Pavia negotiated his return to Vanderbilt football

Pavia was another hot name in the transfer portal before the 2025 season after he was granted an extra year of eligibility by a federal judge in December 2024.

“Isn’t it true you could’ve gone to a lot of other colleges and got money?” Gruden asked. 

“That’s right,” Pavia said. “But I love what Coach Lea’s building. And I wouldn't leave coach Kill or coach (offensive coordinator Tim) Beck. So it’s hard to leverage. I got my extra year back. But the transfer portal … everyone had a quarterback in the SEC. So there was nowhere (to go). I mean there were a few places where I could go, but I knew where I wanted to stay. So I told the GM (general manager Barton Simmons) you guys kind of got me by the (expletive). You guys know coach Kill, coach Beck is here. You know I'm coming back. So let’s find a fair number I can come back for. And so we worked it out.”

“Now are you representing yourself or have an agent?” Gruden asked. 

“No, I (represented) myself (for the NIL negotiation). I didn't think it was fair that someone else would represent me and take 5-10 percent. Ain't nobody taking my money, I’ll tell you that.”

Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, @tpalmateer83.

He also contributes to The Tennessean's high school sports newsletter, The Bootleg. Subscribe to The Bootleg here.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt football's Diego Pavia once asked Hugh Freeze to recruit him