"I totally disagree": Steve Sarkisian minces no words over Diego Pavia's extension in Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia was granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA after filing an injunction. It was ruled that the one year of eligibility he used a the New Mexico Institute in 2021 would not count against his eligibility clock. With the ruling, Pavia has only used three seasons of eligibility, so he has one more.

No. 3 Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian was asked about this ruling on Wednesday. He did not mince words, saying he totally disagreed.

"Yeah I totally disagree with the NCAA's determination on this," Sarkisian said Wednesday via Lone Star. "We chose to go to junior college football and that's where we wanted to start and play our careers, so I don't understand it at all.

"We're going to have guys 28, 29 years old playing college football. Like what's the point man? I don't get it, I don't understand it, I totally disagree with it."

Steve Sarkisian thinks junior college years should count against Diego Pavia's NCAA eligibility

The ruling sets a precedent that junior college years do not count for players against their NCAA eligibility. Steve Sarkisian was asked about this because he spent two years at junior college during his college football playing career, and as a result, he was only eligible for two seasons at BYU after transferring.

However, Sarkisian misspoke in his comments because the ruling did not come from the NCAA. Instead, it was a determination by a federal judge. Regardless of the source of the ruling, it sets an interesting precedent going forward as players can go to junior college while retaining four years of NCAA eligibility.

Diego Pavia began his college football career in 2020, but that was a free year of eligibility for all players because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, he also played for the school in 2021, and that is the year that has been removed from his NCAA eligibility.

In addition to those two years, Diego Pavia played two seasons with New Mexico State, and then with Vanderbilt this past season. With the new ruling, Pavia is eligible to compete in his sixth season of college football despite players typically only getting four years of eligibility.

Interestingly though, this ruling does not apply to all players. It is not a final ruling on the case but prevents the NCAA from keeping Pavia out of college football until the case is resolved. So, if the case drags into next season, he will get to play regardless.