The Diego Pavia era brought Vanderbilt football national attention, major wins, and one of the biggest Heisman Trophy campaigns in school history. It also left the program facing a massive financial reset. According to new reports surrounding Vanderbilt’s NIL spending , the school’s backers poured more than $2 million into Pavia’s endorsement and compensation package during his final college season. Now that the quarterback has moved on to the NFL, Vanderbilt boosters are essentially starting over financially as they attempt to build around freshman quarterback Jared Curtis, whose valuation is reportedly already approaching that level. The numbers underscore how expensive modern college football has become—especially for programs trying to compete in the SEC without the financial infrastructure of schools like Georgia, Alabama, or Texas. Vanderbilt’s entire roster valuation currently sits around $26 million across 58 players.…