Prior to his hiring as head football coach in 2007, David Cutcliffe had no ties to Duke. But perhaps that’s a good thing. In the distant past, Duke possessed a proud football tradition, but Cutcliffe first made his name at a school with a much more recent record of success. He was very highly regarded during his tenure at the University of Tennessee, and that has given him access to players in the football hotbed that neighbors North Carolina.
One such player is David Helton, a highly-rated linebacker from the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tenn. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Helton was ranked the third-best linebacker in Tennessee by Rivals.com, and it was Cutcliffe’s success in Knoxville that swayed Helton to Duke.
“That was definitely one of the largest factors for me [coming to Duke] personally,” Helton said. “Living in Tennessee, one of the biggest and most well known coaches is Coach Cutcliffe. When Tennessee people think about Coach Cutcliffe, they think about the years when Tennessee was doing fantastic.”
Helton, a Chattanooga native, has been surrounded by athletes his whole life. Two of his uncles, James and John Hennen, lettered in football at Army and in baseball at Auburn, respectively. Helton’s athletic path would follow James’s towards football.
He was one of the best players in the Volunteer State throughout his high-school career. He amassed 317 tackles in his final three prep seasons, earning all-state honors at the linebacker position his junior and senior year. His final season was his best as he recorded 121 tackles, including 12 for a loss, and forced three fumbles as a captain of the team. Those statistics were enough to make him the 2010 Chattanooga Times Free Press Defensive Player of the Year.
However, Helton’s athletic endeavors did not stop on the football field. His ability to take someone down translated to another sport: wrestling. Helton was part of four state championship wrestling teams in high school, and as a junior he captured the individual title in the 215-pound weight class. According to Helton, all of the physical and mental effort put into wrestling contributed to added success on the gridiron.
“When you’re wrestling the objective is to get the guy down as fast as you can…and that’s kind of like tackling,” Helton said. “Wrestling definitely got me in that mentality of I’m going to beat the guy in front of me.”
Despite his numerous accomplishments in the sport, Helton is not afraid to make clear why he won’t pursue future wrestling opportunities.
“I really just did not like wrestling at all,” said Helton. “I’ve always felt like I needed to wrestle, but I’m not the biggest fan. I don’t love it like I do football.”
With his focus centered on football, Helton must now join his teammates in trying to deliver a winning season to the Blue Devil faithful. Duke gave up the second-most points in the ACC and ranked 113th in rushing defense a season ago.
It wouldn’t be his first experience with rebuilding a football program. When he was a freshman in high school, his Baylor team won just two games. Just three years later he led the Red Raiders to a 12-2 record and a berth in the state championship game, so he feels like he has the experience and intangibles to help turn around the team.
“That’s the most exciting thing about Duke, the feeling of complete change within a program and to be a part of something like that,” said Helton. “Just to see how much the school came behind us [at Baylor], it was just a huge ordeal. I can sense that change at Duke. To see a school come behind a sport so quickly really intrigued me.”
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