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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