Diego Pavia Reveals Deion Sanders Scholarship Offer During Shedeur's Jackson State Run

Vanderbilt quarterback and 2025 Heisman Trophy finalist Diego Pavia said this week that University of Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders attempted to recruit him during his time at Jackson State.

During an appearance on the Pivot Podcast, Pavia told ESPN's Ryan Clark about the conversation he had with Coach Prime about potentially playing at FCS Jackson State:

"Coach Prime offered me at Jackson State," Pavia said. "But he was so real, he's like, 'Hey look, we're looking for a backup. You ain't playing over my son even if he gets hurt.' I'm like, at least he's real, you know?"

Sanders' son, Shedeur Sanders, starred at Jackson State before going to Colorado with his father. Shedeur won Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honors last season and was selected in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns.

After starting his tenure in Cleveland as the No. 4 quarterback on the depth chart, Sanders worked his way up to the starting spot, and he was named the starter for the remainder of the season after throwing for 364 yards, three touchdowns and one interception against the Tennessee Titans last week.

With Shedeur's presence blocking him from potential playing time at Jackson State, Pavia committed to FBS New Mexico State in 2022, following two seasons playing for the New Mexico Military Institute.

Pavia took over as the full-time starter at NMSU in 2023, and he thrived to the tune of completing 60.4 percent of his passes for 2,973 yards, 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions, while also rushing for 923 yards and seven scores.

He was named the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year, and parlayed that into an opportunity at Vandy.

Pavia won the starting job in 2024, completing 59.4 percent of his passing attempts for 2,293 yards, 20 touchdowns and four picks to go along with 801 yards and eight scores on the ground.

The Commodores also finished 7-6, marking their first winning record since the 2013 season, which was James Franklin's last as Vandy's head coach.

Pavia took his play to the next level this season, setting career highs in completion percentage (71.2 percent), passing yardage (3,192) and passing touchdowns (27). He also threw only eight interceptions and rushed for 826 yards and nine touchdowns.

On top of that, Pavia led Vanderbilt to a 10-2 record, representing the most wins in a single season in program history.

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza is widely expected to win the Heisman since he has led the Hoosiers to an undefeated record, a Big Ten title and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.

However, the fact that Pavia even received an invite to New York City as a Heisman Trophy finalist is remarkable when considering the long, winding road he took to get there.