Overview
- Diego Pavia has left for the NFL after a breakout 2025 season that lifted Vanderbilt to new national attention and raised program expectations.
- Vanderbilt secured five‑star recruit Jared Curtis, a Nashville native who flipped from Georgia and arrives as the program’s highest‑profile 2026 quarterback signing.
- Coach Clark Lea has said he will not try to replace Pavia one‑for‑one and has framed the offseason as a chance to develop multiple leaders across the roster.
- An open competition for the starting job includes Curtis, veteran Blaze Berlowitz, Whit Muschamp and Jack Elliott, with training camp and the Sept. 5 opener set to determine who starts.
- Analysts and staff caution that Curtis’s raw tools differ from proven SEC production, so Vanderbilt is bolstering NIL support, transfer additions and depth to buy a freshman time and protect team performance.