Shuler seeing Rocky Top with a new outlook

Sophomore quarterback prospect Navy Shuler has been to Neyland Stadium countless times during his life. All of those have been as a fan and as the son of Vol great Heath Shuler. But that's changed recently as he has become a recruit. He was in Knoxville last weekend for junior day and had a different view of his childhood favorite.

"It was good," Shuler said. "I got to meet all the coaches and got to see all the new facilities which was nice. I really enjoyed the entire trip. It was different being here as a recruit. I got treated more as Navy Shuler and not Heath Shuler's son."

After a tour of all that Tennessee has to offer, the 2020 quarterback prospect went to Jeremy Pruitt's office to spend time with the first year Vol head coach. It was a good chance to get a feel for what Pruitt is like behind the scenes and have a good chat about the direction of the offense.

"We talked about how the offense is going to look next year," Shuler said. "Just how the team is looking during workouts. He told me that coach (Tyson) Helton is going to come in during the spring and watch my throw and my team practice. Coach Helton and coach Pruitt were talking about how important it is to have quality people around you."

That included time with offensive coordinator Tyson Helton who will look to expand his resume as a full-time play-caller at Tennessee.

"Coach Helton was a great guy," Shuler said. "He told me that it was going to a lot of 11 and 12 personnel. He said it will be a slower offense than last season as they slow it down and they would be big on making corrections in the second half."

Shuler played in just one full game as a sophomore. He threw six touchdowns in that game and the following week was perfect with another touchdown before coming out with an injured elbow. Basically, his growth plates are so wide open that it caused a dislocation of the elbow due to spacing of the bones. All of that resulted in a surgery to correct everything. Shuler has since been cleared and is back throwing.

"To go down after a good game and have to work my way back has been crazy," Shuler said. "It's rewarding getting to go through this process. (They) told me they like how I worked through adversity having pretty much played with a broken elbow. They like that I'm still growing and have a bright future. I just have to continue to put in the work and more things will come. I'm not going to be satisfied with what I was able to accomplish in a couple of games last year. I'm really looking forward to this coming season."

Shuler and Christ School in Asheville will begin Spring football activities in the next couple of week.