Vanderbilt Football nabbed several SEC individual awards this week as the Commodores continue their historic season. Head coach Clark Lea and star quarterback Diego Pavia headlined this year’s SEC awards, as Lea won SEC Coach of the Year while Pavia earned SEC Newcomer of the Year. Eli Stowers, Martel Hight, Jesse Mirco and Brock Taylor also earned All-SEC conference honors — the program’s most All-SEC selections since 2005.
Lea is the first Vanderbilt coach to win SEC Coach of the Year since Bobby Johnson in 2008. Conference wins over then-No. 1 Alabama, Auburn and Kentucky marked a historic season for Lea, as it is his first Vanderbilt team to finish at .500 or better. The Commodores finished the regular season with their most points per game since 2018 and their fewest points allowed per game since 2015. Vanderbilt’s special teams, headed by Jeff LePak, also ranked third in ESPN’s Football Power Index Special Teams Efficiency. Lea was named SEC Mid-Season Coach of the Year after the wins over Alabama and Kentucky, and he will hope to have his team ready for the Commodores’ bowl game against Georgia Tech on Dec. 27.
Pavia earned the SEC’s first-ever Newcomer of the Year award. This honor recognizes the top transfer student-athlete who has not previously competed in the SEC and is not a first-year in eligibility status. Coming from New Mexico State, Pavia was named a team captain before the season began and was a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award and Davey O’Brien Award — two of college football’s most prestigious honors. The graduate transfer threw for 2,133 yards this year with a 59.2% completion rate. He also accumulated 716 yards on the ground — the most rushing yards on Vanderbilt’s roster this season. He became the 13th quarterback since 2004 to beat both Auburn and Alabama in one season, and he was fourth among Power Four quarterbacks with 28 rushes of at least 10 yards.
Stowers, a tight end, earned first-team All-SEC Honors — Vanderbilt’s first offensive player to do so since Jordan Matthews in 2013. Pavia’s fellow New Mexico State transfer totaled 583 yards and 4 touchdowns this season. One hundred thirteen of those yards came from Vanderbilt’s historic upset win over Alabama.
Hight and Mirco were both selected to the All-SEC second team. While Hight’s main position is cornerback, he received the honor as a return specialist. He earned 259 yards on 16 punt returns, averaging 16.9 yards per return. Mirco also had a stellar year, averaging 47.98 yards per punt with a long of 69. He consistently pinned opposing offenses deep in their own territories, with 19 of his punts ending up inside the opposing 20-yard line.
Taylor nabbed third-team All-SEC honors after hitting 18-of-21 field goals and going 5-for-6 from 50+ yards. He kicked the longest field goal in program history — 57 yards — against Missouri on Sept. 21.
The Commodores will now look forward to the Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 27 when they take on the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets.
