Duke football: Navy Shuler, son of Heath, visiting Blue Devils this weekend

A former star (not in the NFL) pupil of Duke football coach David Cutcliffe — from when he was quarterbacks coach at Tennessee — has a son who is showing interest in the Blue Devils.

A dual-threat quarterback in the 2020 class with a famous father will be in Durham this weekend visiting with the Duke football program.

If you ask fans of the Tennessee Volunteers, they would say it’s a good idea to recruit the son of Heath Shuler (he accumulated more than 4,000 yards in two seasons as the Vols’ starting quarterback in the early ’90s under the tutelage of then-UT quarterbacks coach David Cutcliffe).

If you ask fans of the Washington Redskins, though, chances are they would highly discourage it (after being drafted third overall in the 1994 NFL Draft, Shuler played only four seasons while throwing 33 picks and just 15 touchdowns while completing less than 50 percent of his passes).

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And if you ask staunch Republicans, they too might advise against it (Shuler, a Democrat, served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina’s 11th district from 2007-13).

Navy Shuler, who is a junior at Christ School in Asheville, had only been listed as considering his dad’s alma mater before he announced through a tweet that he will be making the trip to Durham for an unofficial visit this weekend. He will likely briefly meet with the coaching staff and attend the Blue Devils’ home game against North Carolina Central on Saturday (starts at 3:30 p.m. EST on the ACC Network Extra).

Although MaxPreps ranks Shuler as just the 1,867th best prospect in his class and 48th best in the state, experts are taking a second look at his stock after his early performances to start his junior campaign.

In his team’s third game this season, the 6-foot-2, 195-pounder threw an impressive eight touchdown passes while completing 26 of 34 attempts for 451 yards. Those stats earned him a spot on MaxPreps/USA Football Players of the Week (he was selected as the top performer in the Mid-Atlantic).

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And there now seems to be a legit possibility that Shuler will become a Blue Devil. That’s good news for Duke football fans (except, of course, for those who also have a passion for the Redskins and are now — after reading this article — suffering from disturbing flashbacks of Heath Shuler under center).

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