AP All-SEC: QB Diego Pavia and coach Clark Lea land top honors for surprising Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, his coach Clark Lea and Texas A&M pass rusher Cashius Howell won top individual honors from The Associated Press for the 2025 Southeastern Conference season.

In results released Wednesday, the AP named Pavia the conference’s offensive player of the year, Lea the coach of the year for a second straight season and Howell the defensive player of the year.

Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy, a sophomore who transferred from Louisiana-Monroe, was named the league’s newcomer of the year. Tennessee receiver Braylon Staley was named freshman of the year.

Pavia, a Heisman Trophy finalist who led the Commodores to their first 10-win season in school history, completed 71% of his passes for 3,192 yards. He accounted for 4,018 total yards and 36 touchdowns, including 27 passing. He led the SEC and ranked fourth nationally with a 171.5 passer rating.

Lea has been instrumental in Pavia’s development and the rise of the program. Vandy has 17 wins over the last two seasons — the team’s best two-year stretch in nearly a century — and have sold out games along the way. That success made Lea a candidate at other programs and prompted a contract extension last month.

Lea also was named the SEC’s coach of the year in 2024 after leading the ‘Dores to a 7-6 mark.

Howell leads the league and is tied for fourth nationally with 11 1/2 sacks. He has 15 1/2 sacks in two years with the Aggies. He spent his first two seasons at Bowling Green.

Hardy led the SEC with 1,560 yards rushing, including 300 against Mississippi State last month, and scored 16 touchdowns. Staley caught 64 passes for 806 yards and six TDs.

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The 2025 Associated Press All-SEC team, as selected by media members who regularly cover the league. Positional players are listed alphabetically with name, school, height, weight, class and hometown; “u-” denotes unanimous selections:

First-team offense

QB — Diego Pavia (u), Vanderbilt, 6-0, 207, Gr., Albuquerque, New Mexico

RB — Ahmad Hardy (u), Missouri, 5-10, 210, So., Oma, Mississippi

RB — Kewan Lacy, Ole Miss, 5-11, 210, So., Dallas

WR — Chris Brazzell II, Tennessee, 6-5, 200, R-Jr., Midland, Texas

WR — Isaiah Sategna III, Oklahoma, 5-10, 182, R-Jr., Austin, Texas

TE — Eli Stowers (u), Vanderbilt, 6-4, 235, Gr., Denton, Texas

OT — Cayden Green, Missouri, 6-5, 324, Jr., Lee’s Summit, Missouri

OT — Kadyn Proctor, Alabama, 6-7, 366, Jr., Des Moines, Iowa

OT — Keagen Trost, Missouri, 6-4, 316, Gr., Kankakee, Illinois

OG — DJ Campbell, Texas, 6-3, 321, Sr., Arlington, Texas

OG — Wendell Moe Jr., Tennessee, 6-2, 330, R-Jr., Long Beach, California

C — Jake Slaughter, Florida, 6-5, 303, R-Sr., Sparr, Florida

First-team defense

DE/Edge — Cashius Howell, Texas A&M, 6-2, 248, R-Sr., Kansas City, Missouri

DE/Edge — Colin Simmons, Texas, 6-3, 240, So., Dallas

DT — Will Echoles, Ole Miss, 6-3, 310, So., Houston

DT — Christen Miller, Georgia, 6-4, 310, R-Jr., Ellenwood, Georgia

LB — CJ Allen, Georgia, 6-1, 235, Jr., Barnesville, Georgia

LB — Xavier Atkins, Auburn, 6-0, 210, So., Houston

LB — Anthony Hill Jr., Texas, 6-3, 238, Jr., Denton, Texas

CB — Mansoor Delane, LSU, 6-0, 190, Sr., Silver Spring, Maryland

CB — Daylen Everette, Georgia, 6-1, 190, Sr., Norfolk, Virginia

S — A.J. Haulcy, LSU, 6-0, 222, Sr., Houston

S — Bray Hubbard, Alabama, 6-2, 213, Jr., Ocean Springs, Mississippi

First-team specialists

PK — Tate Sandell, Oklahoma, 5-9, 182, R-Jr., Port Neches, Texas

P — Grayson Miller, Oklahoma, 5-10, 200, Jr., Edmond, Oklahoma

All-purpose — KC Concepcion, Texas A&M, 5-11, 190, Jr., Chalotte, North Carolina

Second-team o

ffense

QB — Ty Simpson, Alabama, 6-2, 208, R-Jr., Martin, Tennessee

RB — Jadan Baugh, Florida, 6-1, 231, So., Atlanta

RB — Mike Washington Jr., Arkansas, 6-2, 228, Sr., Utica, New York

WR — KC Concepcion, Texas A&M, 5-11, 190, Jr., Chalotte, North Carolina

WR — Brenen Thompson, Texas A&M, 5-9, 170, Sr., Spearman, Texas

TE — Rohon Jones, Arkansas, 6-3, 242, Sr., Montreal, Quebec, Canada

OT — Cayden Green, Missouri, 6-5, 324, Jr., Lee’s Summit, Missouri

OT — Trevor Goosby, Texas, 6-7, 312, So., Melissa, Texas

OG — Ar’maj Reed-Adams, Texas A&M, 6-5, 325, Gr., Dallas

OG — Micah Morris, Georgia, 6-4, 330, R-Sr., Kingsland, Georgia

C — Drew Bobo, Georgia, 6-5, 305, Athens, Georgia

Second-team defense

DE/Edge — Quincy Rhodes Jr., Arkansas, 6-6, 275, Jr., North Little Rock, Arkansas

DE/Edge — R Mason Thomas, Oklahoma, 6-2, 249, Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Florida

DT — Gracen Halton, Oklahoma, 6-2, 292, Sr., San Diego, California

DT — Chris McClellan, Missouri, 6-4, 323, Sr., North Tulsa, Oklahoma

LB — Josiah Trotter, Missouri, 6-2, 237, R-So., Philadelphia

LB — Taurean York, Texas A&M, 5-10, 227, Jr., Temple, Texas

LB — Owen Heinecke, Oklahoma, 6-1, 227, R-Jr., Tulsa, Oklahoma

CB — Colton Hood, Tennessee, 6-0, 195, R-So., McDonough, Georgia

CB — Ellis Robinson IV, Georgia, 6-0, 180, R-Fr., New Haven, Connecticut

S — Michael Taaffe, Texas, 6-0, 189, Sr., Austin, Texas

S — Wydett Williams Jr., Ole Miss, 6-2, 210, Sr., Lake Providence, Louisiana

Second-team specialists

PK — Peyton Woodring, Georgia, 5-10, 190, Lafayette, Louisiana

P — Brett Thorson, Georgia, 6-2, 235, Sr., Melbourne, Australia

All-purpose — Ryan Niblett, Texas, 5-10, 187, So., Houston

Individual awards

Coach of the Year — Clark Lea, Vanderbilt

Offensive Player of the Year — QB Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt

Defensive Player of the Year — DE Cashius Howell, Texas A&M

Newcomer of the year — RB Ahmad Hardy, Missouri

Freshman of the year — WR Braylon Staley, Tennessee

Voting panel

Bob Ballou, CBS Austin; Armando Barry, 40/29 sports; Kirk Bohls, Houston Chronicle; Robbie Faulk, Starkville Daily News; Mike Griffith, Atlanta-Journal Constitution; John Hale, Lexington Herald-Leader; Eli Hoff, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Michael Katz, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal; Nick Kelly, AL.com; Julian Mininsohn, WKRN-TV; David Paschall, Chattanooga Times Free Press; Edgar Thompson, Orlando Sentinel; Jacob Waters, Opelika-Auburn News; Mason Young, Tulsa World.

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