The Duke Blue Devils have exceeded expectations under Manny Diaz, on and off the field. In his first season, Diaz led a 34th-ranked class nationally with 28 commitments, and this year, too, the head coach is pulling all the strings, already securing 17 commitments. However, according to recent reports, Diaz could face a major setback as one of his top 2026 recruits is considering a potential switch.

This isn’t the first time that Manny Diaz has faced a potential flip scenario. For instance, last year Duke’s 2025 commit Gerritt Kemp flipped to NC State in June. LB Cam Smith also moved to Penn State. The same now can happen with his 4-star offensive lineman, as he signaled increasing Michigan interest.

According to On3’s Sam Spiegelman, Michigan is seriously considering flipping OL Sean Stover. Stover, too, looks to be heavily inclined towards Michigan after being pursued by Sherrone Moore and Grant Newsome. “Michigan is a great program that has strong academics and a historically strong football program. I wanted to learn more about the program and figured getting out to campus would be the best way to get that information,” said Stover. What stood out for Stover was Michigan’s track record of developing elite OLs.

“Michigan is known for developing offensive linemen. Coach Newsome and Coach Moore both seem very committed to the development of players,” said Stover. Notably, Stover will visit Ann Arbor this weekend on an official visit and has said to “look forward to getting to know the coaches.” All of this signals extreme interest on the part of the OL, and it would undoubtedly be a big blow for Duke.

Sean Stover is the sole 4-star commit in the 2026 class for Duke. He is also the 335th-ranked player nationally and is the 29th offensive lineman in the country. Losing a quality player like Stover then will take the class much lower than its 47th-ranked position currently. Not just that, the 6’3″ and 290 lbs Stover is the sole O-line recruit in the class. So at this juncture, when most OLs have laid down their commitments already, finding another would be a tough task. But if the Bryce Davis saga is anything to go by, Manny Diaz has the persuasion power to potentially convince Stover to stay.

It won’t be a surprise to see Stover stay at Manny Diaz’s camp

Michigan undoubtedly has a heritage of producing elite linemen and propelling them to the NFL. Zak Zinter is a prime example of that, who was selected in the 3rd round of the NFL draft in 2024. In total, in the past 5 years, Michigan has had almost 13 linemen drafted in the NFL, and that opens a pipeline for Stover to play under the floodlights of the NFL. But what Manny Diaz is doing with Duke can’t also be underestimated.

Duke, in its 2025 recruiting cycle, flipped a high-profile Clemson commit, Bryce Davis. For context, Davis was the 77th recruit nationally in ESPN rankings and was the fourth-ranked player from North Carolina. The defensive end became the highest-rated recruit to ever commit to Duke, signaling a new era under Manny Diaz. The era is continuing well in the  2025 season, too. Duke is 4-2 so far and has defeated teams like Syracuse and California. The result?

A new NFL pipeline seems to be opening to the NFL from college football. And its opening source is in Duke as Manny Diaz continues to exceed expectations. Among the next games, the Georgia Tech game and Clemson on the road will give some trouble to Diaz. Apart from that, the schedule looks easily navigable. Owing to all of this, it won’t be a surprise then to see Stover stay at Duke after his Michigan visit.