Stanford Football Loses Three-Star Offensive Line Commit to Michigan

Stanford football lost an important recruit on Wednesday. Braden Chaffin, a three-star offensive tackle from Sterling Heights, Michigan, flipped his commitment from Stanford to Michigan on Wednesday, causing the Cardinal to lose a potential building piece for the future. Chaffin had been committed to the Cardinal since June 1.

Chaffin is the fourth offensive lineman to commit to the Wolverines as part of their 2027 recruiting class. While he was intent on coming to The Farm, a late scholarship offer followed by an official visit to Ann Arbor led to his decision to stay close to home and play for the Big Ten powerhouse.

Chaffin announced his decision in a social media post, thanking his coaches from over the years for helping his development and thanking Michigan's coaching staff for believing in him. It is a huge blow to Stanford, but the program still has four offensive linemen committed to the class.

"After lots of thinking and talking to my family and support circle, I've decided I am going to be flipping my commitment to the University of Michigan," Chaffin said in the post. "Thank you to all the coaches that have poured in to my development over the years. I also want to thank Coach [Jim] Harding and Coach [Kyle] Whittingham for believing in me and giving me this opportunity. I'm Staying home!! Go Blue."

Chaffin is a highly touted prospect and received offers from 17 schools in total, including Michigan, Stanford, Louisville, UCLA and Northwestern. He only took official visits to Stanford and Michigan.

Stanford still has 17 hard commits for the 2027 class, with Benjamin Lowther, George Tyus, Clint Lundin and Lauifi Tosi making up the offensive line group. The Cardinal have dealt with inconsistent play on the line in recent seasons and are working to ensure that they bring in a group capable of turning things around.

Stanford has experienced a mixed bag of results this season, losing in blowout fashion to Miami, Duke, Wake Forest, Notre Dame and Louisville, but beating NC State in upset fashion while looking much improved in a lot of ways throughout the year. Coach Tavita Pritchard has instilled a new culture and has worked tirelessly to bring the program back to its winning ways. 

Stanford is coming off a bye week and hits the road to face Virginia Tech this week. The Hokies, led by new coach James Franklin, have exceeded expectations and look like a team that will be a force in the near future. Their offense has played well and will pose a challenge for the Cardinal.

The Cardinal return to the Bay Area after the game to face Cal on the road in the 129th edition of the Big Game. The Cardinal beat the Golden Bears 31-10 last season, their first Big Game win since 2020.

If they win again this season, it will be the program's first time winning Big Game in consecutive seasons since they won every year between 2010 and 2018. One of the keys to winning each game will be the play of the offensive line.