Five things we learned from Diego Pavia’s viral Bussin’ With The Boys interview

Diego Pavia may have his own podcast, but his appearance on another has generated a few viral moments this week.

The current Vanderbilt and former New Mexico State quarterback’s interview with Bussin’ With The Boys, a podcast hosted by former NFL players Will Compton and Taylor Lewan, has received significant attention on social media — in no small part because of the stories told and claims made by Pavia.

Five things we learned from the Albuquerque native’s interview with Compton and Lewan:

Quotes have been edited for language.

Pavia considered playing for Deion Sanders

Before he chose NMSU after a two-year run at New Mexico Military Institute, Pavia received interest from two FCS schools: St. Francis and Jackson State, the latter coached by none other than current Colorado head coach and former NFL star Deion Sanders.

“I was thinking about going to Jackson State,” Pavia said. “But Deion was so real — (he said) ‘hey, this ain’t a 50/50, my son’s playing regardless.’”

Sanders’ son? Cleveland Browns quarterback Shadeur Sanders, who was selected out of Colorado in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

“He’s like, ‘we’re looking for a backup,’” Pavia added of his conversation with Deion. “And I’m thinking in my head, like, ‘I ain’t no ******* backup. You know what I mean?’”

Pavia’s rivalry with New Mexico was ‘personal’

Pavia made it clear on Bussin’ With The Boys that his rivalry with New Mexico was “personal” after he wasn’t recruited by his hometown school. In fact, Pavia treated the 2023 edition of the Rio Grande Rivalry as a “money game” since he didn’t play against UNM in 2022.

The Lobos did, too — especially after videos surfaced that fall of Pavia urinating on the UNM logo in the program’s indoor practice facility.

“Before the game, no one said anything about it and they were using it as fuel,” Pavia said of a 2023 game against the Lobos, “and they thought they were gonna beat us and use it against me after. Anyway, we went in there and wiped them out (the Aggies won 27-17) and (former UNM head coach Danny Gonzales) was all sad and stuff.

“But I really had something against them because they didn’t recruit me either out of JuCo and I won a national championship — and they were still losing. So it was like real life beef with the coaches.”

Gonzales said in September 2023 that he did not recruit Pavia (“I thought we were in a different situation,” the coach added) but credited him for being a “big time player.”

Pavia would have stayed at NMSU — under a few conditions

Even after former NMSU head coach Jerry Kill stepped down in December 2023, Pavia was willing to stay at NMSU — under a few conditions. One of which was that then-defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling needed to be elevated to head coach.

“If they hire (Dreiling), then I’ll stay,” Pavia said. “ … He was real, he was gonna pay me the money I wanted. He was the one who — like, our defense was really good at New Mexico State.

“So I was thinking, OK, well, we could win here and then there’s a chance like how Boise State went to the playoffs, we’d be that team. That whole team was freakin’ stacked.”

The Aggies instead opted to elevate Tony Sanchez, then NMSU’s wide receivers coach and the former head coach at UNLV. Dreiling was hired as Utah State’s defensive coordinator before he was tabbed as the program’s interim head coach last summer; he is currently the linebackers coach at Oklahoma.

Another stipulation? The compensation had to be there: Pavia said he would have stayed with the Aggies for $100,000 worth of NIL money.

Pavia could have made millions by entering the portal

Pavia has played the majority of his college career in the player empowerment era. So it was no surprise that his name, image and likeness — and the NIL figures he’s received — dominated much of the conversation with Lewan and Compton.

Pavia even disclosed figures, stating that he was initially offered $150,000 in NIL money by Vanderbilt and expressing displeasure with the $1,400 he received per month at NMSU.

“Because Eli Stowers,” Pavia said of the former five-star recruit and current Vanderbilt tight end, “was getting $3,000 a month. And he played tight end and I played quarterback.

“ … I was like, man, **** that. I need to go harder.”

But no figure was quite as surprising as the one that was supposed to lure him back into the portal after last season.

“Was there a dollar amount that you heard,” Lewan asked, “that was like, ‘holy...****?’”

Pavia paused.

“Anywhere from like, $4-$4.5 (million) … to leave,” he said.

Pavia claimed another SEC school offered him said sum.

Pavia almost ended up in the Mountain West

In the wake of Kill’s resignation, Pavia entered the portal in December 2023 and eventually found what he thought was a match with a Mountain West school.

“I really (liked) Nevada,” he said. “I really (liked head coach Jeff Choate).”

Pavia said he even committed to the Wolf Pack — but things changed quickly.

“That night, I call (Tim Beck), who’s the offensive coordinator at Vandy, and I’m like, ‘hey, I committed to Nevada, appreciate you guys,’” Pavia remembered. “He’s like, ‘wait, wait, wait — I got someone to call you.’

“Coach Kill calls me, tells me he’s coming out of retirement basically to just be on the Vanderbilt staff and take care of the offense,” Pavia went on. “So then my mom was like, ‘yeah, you’re gonna go to Vandy.’ So, (I said), ‘yeah, I’m going to Vandy.’”