Jaylen Stinson addresses decision to enter, withdraw from transfer portal

Only three days after Duke named Manny Diaz its next head coach, cornerback Jaylen Stinson entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. However, five weeks later, Stinson announced his decision to return to the Blue Devils for a fifth season. At the 2024 ACC Kickoff, Stinson pulled back the curtain on his decision.

“I did test the waters with the transfer portal ’cause during that time we had doubt. We really didn’t know where this would go,” Stinson said. “When Manny got to come to the front and talk to us, tell us his plan, what he had planned for this team, it just built confidence in us as a whole as far as like the locker room.

“We knew he wanted to do the right thing with us. We could trust him as a coach. I know that he would take this program in the right direction.”

Stinson’s return is a massive boost to Duke’s defense.  In the 2023 campaign, Stinson tallied a career-high 82 tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack, six passes defended and an interception.

In four years at Duke, Stinson has amassed 211 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 12 passes defended, two sacks and three interceptions. Stinson is more than an active defender. He is also a standout special teams threat for the Blue Devils.

Despite not returning kicks in 2023, Stinson boasts 1,553 return yards and two touchdowns in his career. The 5-foot-8 safety was a preseason All-ACC selection by Athlon Sports (First Team), Pro Football Focus (First Team) and Phil Steele’s College Football Preview (Third Team) as a kickoff return specialist.

Jaylen Stinson showers Manny Diaz with praise

Now, Stinson is excited to help usher in the Manny Diaz era at Duke.

“He’s a standup guy,” Stinson said of Diaz. “We all had doubt. The first day he made it here, he called us up personally. That meant a lot for me. At that time, being my last year, I’m not sure where I’m going to be, he cleared a few things up with me. I knew he had the best interest in me.

“But not only, it wasn’t just Manny. It was the locker room as well, just the culture, everything we built in that locker room. It speaks for itself. I feel like there’s not another locker room like ours. It’s truly a brotherhood at Duke football.”

On Aug. 30, Jaylen Stinson and his fellow Blue Devils will attempt to show off their brotherhood as they square off against Elon in their season-opener.