Kirk Herbstreit names Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia as 2025 Offensive Player of the Year in annual Herbie Awards

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia has won the 2025 Herbie Award for Offensive Player of the Year. The Heisman Trophy finalist helped lead the Commodores to a 10-2 record during the regular season.

Pavia put together a huge season at Vanderbilt to become one of the top four vote-getters for the Heisman. He not only threw for 3,192 yards and 27 touchdowns, but added 826 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on the ground as a true dual-threat.

It was part of a monster second season at Vanderbilt for Pavia, who got another year of eligibility as part of a court ruling last year. In the process, he helped the Commodores enter the College Football Playoff race as their turnaround continued under Clark Lea.

Pavia was one of three finalists for the Herbie Award for Offensive Player of the Year. He beat out Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love and Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza for the honor, and Herbstreit said it came down to spearheading Vanderbilt’s turnaround.

“You could give it to anybody on this list,” Herbstreit said during Friday’s show. “I’d like to be a little bit different. And I think this has everything to do with where this program has been before Clark Lea got back to his alma mater and Diego Pavia transferred in. Every single time, it just seemed like he would step up, make plays. He had some swag, of course, which I think was new for all of us to see that Vandy uniform having a guy doing things like that.

“But I look at any of these individual awards and how they impacted the team. And in my opinion, I don’t know if anybody in the country impacted their team the way Diego Pavia did.”

A former junior college transfer, Pavia electrified college football during his two years at Vanderbilt and put himself squarely in the Heisman Trophy conversation as a result. With the ceremony approaching Saturday, he made his case to bring home college football’s most prestigious award during an appearance on First Take.

“I think I’ve explained this quite a lot, but you guys see it. 4,000 yards – the only one in the FBS,” Pavia said. “But I think it’s a team award. The offensive line deserves it. We’ve got, in my head, the Joe Moore Award winners. And then, obviously, we’ve got the best tight end in football. But it’s a team effort, so I feel like I want it more for the team than I do want it for myself. The O-line is coming out to support me, so I want them to take home the trophy with me.”