Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia's attorney sets stage to challenge for 7th season of eligibility

#8
#8
McDad said:
When was the last time that was said about Vanderbilt?
I understand Vandy is the little brother but how can anyone not appreciate what Clark Lea is doing there?
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I don't. can't wait for him to get scooped up and ride away into the sunset like everyone else worth a **** there does
 
#11
#11
McDad said:
When was the last time that was said about Vanderbilt?
I understand Vandy is the little brother but how can anyone not appreciate what Clark Lea is doing there?
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I think a lot of what Lea has been able to do there is specifically because of Pavia. He's a special player, but he pretty clearly wore down towards the end of last season. They are running nowhere near as much as they did last season and still winning (he had 54 carries through 3 games last year and only has 30 so far this year, which is still a lot), so that bodes better for them.

It will be interesting to see if Lea can keep up the momentum in the program after Pavia leaves, and/or doesn't leave for another job. Before Pavia got there he went 9-27 (2-22) and came into last season on something of a hot seat, even by Vandy's standards.
 
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#12
#12
apevol said:
I don't. can't wait for him to get scooped up and ride away into the sunset like everyone else worth a **** there does
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Not sure that ever happens.
If Lea can keep Vandy in or around the Top 20 every year, play at a decent bowl game, and keep them middle of the pack in the SEC so the administration keeps raking in money he likely doesn't leave.

A big part of it with Clark Lea is Vandy has always been home...born in Nashville, grew up a Vandy fan, attended Vandy games as a kid with his family, started college out of state then transferred to Belmont and got into Vandy his final two years.
There are accounts that HE called Vandy when Derek Mason was let go to let them know he was interested...he could have stayed at Notre Dame and would have been considered as their next HC when Kelley left.
He was part of that 'every Saturday' program on Netflix and you can just tell he sweats Vandy out of every pore of his being.

All that said, we've seen other coaches in similar situations (successful at their alma maters, etc.) grab at the dangling carrot and leave.
Most famous pops in my mind is Spurrier at Florida...if there was ever a "HC for Life" it was him at FLA, but the Redskins dangled 5 mill a year in front of him (richest NFL contract for a coach at that time).
 
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#14
#14
05_never_again said:
I think a lot of what Lea has been able to do there is specifically because of Pavia. He's a special player, but he pretty clearly wore down towards the end of last season. They are running nowhere near as much as they did last season and still winning (he had 54 carries through 3 games last year and only has 30 so far this year, which is still a lot), so that bodes better for them.

It will be interesting to see if Lea can keep up the momentum in the program after Pavia leaves, and/or doesn't leave for another job. Before Pavia got there he went 9-27 (2-22) and came into last season on something of a hot seat, even by Vandy's standards.
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All very true. But the defense playing physical or being described as physical is not because of Diego.
 
#17
#17
McDad said:
All very true. But the defense playing physical or being described as physical is not because of Diego.
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That's true, but they don't beat Alabama last year if not for him, which was the feature win. The reason people really remember that season is because of that win; if they lost that game, they would have been just a 6-6 bowl eligible team whose best victory was on the road against Auburn, which is still a nice win for a program like Vandy but Auburn was horrific last year.

Honestly, even though Lea had a 6-6 regular season and Franklin won 8 regular season games there twice, his 2024 season might be more impressive than any season Franklin had there. It kind of got lost because Vandy historically is a little brother program that doesn't beat anybody, but Franklin took advantage of a bunch of programs having bad seasons. In 2012, he didn't beat a single team that had a winning record in the regular season. In 2013, he only beat 2 teams that had winning regular season records (UGA and Houston in the bowl game). When they played good teams, they almost always got smoked (2012 UGA, 2013 Missouri and Texas A&M). The Tennessee teams in particular he beat, both years, were really really bad. The UF team he beat in 2013 was a historically bad team.

In contrast, Lea last year not only beat Alabama but played really close games against Missouri, Texas, and LSU, plus jumped out to that lead against us early in a game where you'd think we'd come out strong.
 
#18
#18
05_never_again said:
That's true, but they don't beat Alabama last year if not for him, which was the feature win. The reason people really remember that season is because of that win; if they lost that game, they would have been just a 6-6 bowl eligible team whose best victory was on the road against Auburn, which is still a nice win for a program like Vandy but Auburn was horrific last year.

Honestly, even though Lea had a 6-6 regular season and Franklin won 8 regular season games there twice, his 2024 season might be more impressive than any season Franklin had there. It kind of got lost because Vandy historically is a little brother program that doesn't beat anybody, but Franklin took advantage of a bunch of programs having bad seasons. In 2012, he didn't beat a single team that had a winning record in the regular season. In 2013, he only beat 2 teams that had winning regular season records (UGA and Houston in the bowl game). When they played good teams, they almost always got smoked (2012 UGA, 2013 Missouri and Texas A&M). The Tennessee teams in particular he beat, both years, were really really bad. The UF team he beat in 2013 was a historically bad team.

In contrast, Lea last year not only beat Alabama but played really close games against Missouri, Texas, and LSU, plus jumped out to that lead against us early in a game where you'd think we'd come out strong.
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Kinda getting into the weeds away from my original thought. His team played tough (physical) against USCe. I respect him being able to get that out of Vandy defensive players.
 
#20
#20
Lea has definitely upgraded Vandy. Unlike Franklin, he has brought in quality people, not just good players. I think the question of how long Pavia can survive the running game is legitimate. As others have said, however, their defense is for real. The hit on the quarterback may have been targeting, but the wasn’t a dirty play.
 
#21
#21
#22
#22
superdave1984 said:
Pavia probably knows he has no future in the NFL so he should try to stay in college as long as possible.
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Exactly. Probably No pro career. If the law states the NCAA cannot keep a player from earning money, how do they keep a 25, 26, 27 yo from continuing to play college.
They used to say you couldn’t earn money, transfer without sitting out a year, players only had 5 years to play 4, and couldn’t transfer outside the portal. Players are now doing all those things and I noticed the AA is no longer going to court over them. Surprise…….
 
#23
#23
05_never_again said:
I think a lot of what Lea has been able to do there is specifically because of Pavia. He's a special player, but he pretty clearly wore down towards the end of last season. They are running nowhere near as much as they did last season and still winning (he had 54 carries through 3 games last year and only has 30 so far this year, which is still a lot), so that bodes better for them.

It will be interesting to see if Lea can keep up the momentum in the program after Pavia leaves, and/or doesn't leave for another job. Before Pavia got there he went 9-27 (2-22) and came into last season on something of a hot seat, even by Vandy's standards.
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Vandy's schedule is so tough I don't see them winning more than 8 games! That will still be quite an accomplishment for Lea / Vandy! He is proving to be a great coach! I wish Heupel had hired him as the DC instead of Banks!!! If so, UT may have won the NC last year. They would have definitely beat UGA this year!
 
#24
#24
superdave1984 said:
Pavia probably knows he has no future in the NFL so he should try to stay in college as long as possible.
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Chris Wienke.
Stetson Bennett.
Josh Heupel.
Jarrett Guarantano.
Scott Frost (did change position, but was drafted relatively early).
The dude the Saints drafted who is like 26 this year.

Never say never for the NFL.
 
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