Not long after former Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia wandered into the Commodores' indoor practice facility the morning of March 17, he found his neck enveloped by the arms of a former teammate.
The playful chokehold temporarily put on hold Pavia's ability to see a current Vanderbilt quarterback, freshman Jared Curtis, who wears the same No.
2 Pavia wore for two historic seasons, during the first day of spring football practice.
Freed from the hold, Pavia, the record-setting 2025 Heisman Trophy finalist — and NFL hopeful whose pro day will take place on the same field on March 20 — turned around to catch a glimpse of the consensus five-star Commodores quarterback of the future.
Just like most everyone else in attendance was there to do.
"I realized right out of the gate it's been, 'Jared Curtis, Jared Curtis, Jared Curtis,' " coach Clark Lea said after practice, when reporters peppered him with questions about the former Nashville Christian quarterback who had flipped his commitment from Georgia.
"I get that.
But for us, we're not going to have that level of microscope on him every day.
"This is about giving him room to make his mistakes and to become the player he wants to be."
In other words, Lea understands that the dress rehearsal for Curtis' first college season will feature a lot of attention, a lot of mistakes, and he hopes a lot of growth from an 18-year-old who has two high school state championships to his name but zero experience at this level.
'He's coming along well'
Wearing a mustard-colored jersey reserved for quarterbacks, complemented by black pants, Curtis took turns with Blaze Berlowitz, Whit Muschamp and Jack Elliott spinning spirals to receivers during various drills.
One of those receivers was senior Junior Sherrill, a Lipscomb Academy graduate.
"He's coming along well, like being a leader in his room," Sherrill said of Curtis.
"Hitting me up to throw sometimes.
Overall, a good player and a good person."
But hardly a perfect quarterback.
Curtis knows that.
Sherrill knows that.
Lea knows that.
Lea talked about the times during OTAs when Curtis clutched the ball for too long, which sometimes results in him throwing interceptions, and how Curtis is still adjusting to the speed of the game.
"He has the tools.
Playing quarterback is about more than just being able to throw the ball," Lea said.
"We're going to give (the quarterbacks) time to develop in those other areas, too.
"We have the runway now."
Will Jared Curtis be Vanderbilt's starting quarterback next season?
Which is why Lea, while praising Curtis' talent and ability, insists this will be a time to work on more than just mechanics.
Which is why he can't or won't say who his starting quarterback will be when the season begins Sept.
5, even though, barring unforeseen circumstances, it will be Curtis.
"What's ideal (about naming a starter) is, the sooner the better.
We don't have that luxury right now.
A year ago, we did.
So we have to get through scrimmages.
It at least goes through the end of spring, possibly into the summer and into training camp," Lea said.
"I don't think that's ideal, but you want to make sure you're seeing it clearly because that position is the one that changes everything."
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean.
Reach him at pskrbina@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What Vanderbilt football's Clark Lea said of quarterback Jared Curtis
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