Pavia and Crew Take on SEC Media Days in Atlanta, Quick Hits and Quotes
A year removed from making the whole country learn his name, Diego Pavia attended his first SEC Media Days Monday. Coach Clark Lea brought Pavia, Safety Randon Fontenette, and newly announced two way player Martel Hight down to Georgia.
Clark Lea took the stage for his yearly “State of the Program” where in past years he has stolen headlines with quotes like “in due time, Vanderbilt will be the best program in the country”.
Lea started his opening statements talking about the retention of staff and players, citing the belief throughout the locker room, “We believe that last year was the beginning, not the arrival”.
“This is a players game and it comes down the the leadership of the players. They are the heroes of this story”
On Martel Hight: “His growth mirrors our programs growth”. Hight was the only Vanderbilt attendee who is “home grown”, meaning the only player in attendance who came to Vanderbilt right out of high school.
On Randon Fontenette: “Improved in all aspects this off season but most importantly modeled consistency in his work”
On Diego Pavia: “What else is there to say that hasn’t been said. He has had such a profound impact on all aspects of the program. He is an energy source for our program, the whole university, the Nashville community, and college football fans everywhere”
Clark then admitted to this being similar to 2023, “Two years ago I stood up here and preached progress and it lead to a failed season. We had to go backwards to move forwards, progress is rarely linear”
Talking about the success of last year, “We played 8 games to one possession where we were 4-4. We are as close to 2-10 as we are 10-2”
When asked about building on last year coach went into detail about the process, “We believe we have what it takes to play to January”
“Our pressure is we know we can’t have an off night”
“Vanderbilt Football is a chip on the shoulder operation its home to a young scrappy team who begins with each day with something to prove”
“We learned last year to win in November we have to be better mentally physically and emotionally”
Diego Pavia was the first player to take the stand, a more mellow and professional Pavia than we are used to seeing.
“I got banged up during the Kentucky game and I’ve been hitting training room more to be more prepared”
“The Alabama win helped us go get talent”
“That win finally got people to believe in Vanderbilt football“
“We have to win more games to get what we want, winning cures everything”
Very odd response on the SC game being circled “we obviously fell way short in that game last year. We are focused on charleston southern and will get to week 3 when we get there”
On Hugh Freeze: “they must have a spell on him, coach Freeze is a great coach and great person”
On Eli Stowers: “He’s a natural talent” “he’s played QB, he knows the reads. Off the field he is just a great person and best teammate”
“I put the blame on me for the Texas loss, that’s where 2 of my interceptions came and I need to find the throwing lanes better”
“A lot of junior college players reach out to thank me; it was all my lawyer. I’m glad I got the opportunity to help junior college players”
Martel Hight was the second player up to the podium, probably also thankful he didn’t have to follow up a WWE promo level Pavia.
“Knowing coach Lea as the man he is, he’s loving and caring and tells you the truth”
“Deanthony Thomas and Tavon Austin is who I model my return game after” ball knower.
“Diego is a great guy, a dog”
“With our without bama win he would still be the way he is”
“When you have a QB built like that it gives you a confidence boost too”
“Don’t take any team for granted and come out and play Vandy football”
On Stowers: “Eli is a great guy; the preacher on the team”
On defensive improvement: “Coach Lea broke down the big things and made it smaller”
What he wants people to know about him: “we aren’t gonna feed off last year and we will keep bringing more”
On two way role: “split reps in practice for drills and team”. Talked about playing high school football against Travis Hunter, and that being an inspiration for his duel role.
“Staying healthy is the main part”
“We go into every game with the mission to win. We assume we will win every game we play”
On favorite place to play in SEC on the road: “First Bank Stadium”
Randon Fontenette was the last player for the day.
“Gotta finish games we came short on last year”
On Diego: “his aura and competitiveness spreads light to the locker room”
“We got our QB back let’s go on a run”
“Different vibe around city, everyone knows Pavia”
“Anywhere we go someone’s gonna ask for a picture”
“We can win any game in any given moment”
On Nashville: “Living in Nashville is definitely a recruiting pitch”
“Players want to win, our main focus is winning”
“It doesn’t matter what city you live in if you want to play in the NFL”
