Diego Pavia raised eyebrows when he was granted a sixth year of eligibility to return to the Vanderbilt football program in 2025. Just three games into what was thought to be his final season, his team is already preparing to push for a jaw-dropping seventh year.

Pavia, 24, is in his second season with Vanderbilt and is one of the oldest players in college football. Despite that fact, Pavia's legal team is already preparing to pursue a seventh year of eligibility, according to On3 Sports.

Pavia's argument is based on the new ruling the NCAA announced in the offseason. The new rules state that junior college years no longer count toward a player's four years of NCAA eligibility. Pavia began his career at New Mexico Military Institute, where he spent his first two years and led the Broncos to an NJCAA National Championship.

However, even excluding his two years at NMMI, Pavia is already in his fourth year with an FBS program. He spent two seasons at New Mexico State before transferring to Vanderbilt and can only appear in one more game in 2025 before losing his redshirt season.

Pavia initially filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in November 2024 that sparked the rule change. He alleged that counting junior college years as eligibility violated antitrust law, causing him to miss out on lucrative opportunities.

Vanderbilt football QB Diego Pavia's eligibility igniting further lawsuits

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors quarterback Brayden Schager (13) gains yards against the Boise State Broncos during the fourth quarter an NCAA college football game at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.
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Pavia is undeniably one of the biggest stars in college football, but the NCAA will likely do anything it can to prevent the Vanderbilt quarterback from sticking around for another year. Since his eventful offseason, Pavia has only given the association issues.

As happy as Vanderbilt fans were with his return, other athletes were not pleased with the NCAA's decision to grant Pavia an additional year. Its ruling led to further lawsuits from other players, who also sought additional eligibility, including Pavia's former teammate, linebacker Langston Patterson.

Patterson is among 10 players no longer in the NCAA seeking another year that they want granted in the 2026 season. Included in that group is former Hawaii quarterback Brayden Schager, who directed a lot of his frustration at Pavia.

Schager shared his frustration on X, formerly Twitter, claiming that he only played “two snaps” more than his redshirt eligibility permitted, but was denied an additional season. Meanwhile, Schager believes that Pavia only earned another year because of his lawsuit.