Max McCaffrey didn’t grow up in the typical athletic family. His father, Ed, spent 13 seasons in the NFL and his mother played three years of Division I soccer at Stanford. His grandfather and two uncles spent their college days at Duke playing sports such as baseball, track and field, basketball and football.
When it came time to choose a school to play football, McCaffrey chose Duke over Stanford — his parents’ alma mater — and a host of other offers because he felt at home. He enjoyed the environment head coach David Cutcliffe was building.
McCaffrey’s official visit to Durham, North Carolina allowed him to see Cutcliffe’s vision for the team and he knew Duke was a place where he could help mold a program on the rise, he said.