Culpepper leaving Tampa Bay Tech

As he looked out at the faces of his football players gathered in the Tampa Bay Tech auditorium early Wednesday afternoon, C.C. Culpepper couldn't hold back the tears.

Culpepper was overcome with emotion as he revealed he was leaving TBT as head coach to accept a job as defensive backs and special teams coach at Grambling State University.

"If it wasn't for your hard work, practicing and playing, listening to me scream and cuss, I would not have this opportunity," Culpepper told his players. "It's the young men of Tampa Bay Tech who have given me this chance."

And despite how much work he put into TBT to change it from a perennial loser to one that reached the region semifinals the past three seasons, Culpepper said coaching at Grambling was just an opportunity that doesn't come around often.

"I talk to you guys all the time about school, doing your best and taking advantage of your opportunities,'' said Culpepper, who was 32-13 in four years at TBT. "And this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me, to go to a university where at one point, the winningest coach (Eddie Robinson) in all of college football coached and where (Black College Football) Hall of Fame member Doug Williams is now the coach.''

Culpepper said he received the offer from Williams, the former Buccaneers quarterback, on Saturday. The two met two summers ago when Culpepper was invited to the Bucs training camp as a volunteer assistant by Coach Raheem Morris. Culpepper said he had used Williams as a reference when applying for other college jobs, but once Williams was named coach at Grambling, he called Culpepper to make the offer.

"Coach Culpepper did a great job at Tampa Bay Tech and he was also impressive when he did an internship with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,'' Williams said. "He got some invaluable lessons over there and you could see his passion, what he wanted to do and what he loved doing. It was an easy choice for me.''

Culpepper said he would like to see one of his two coordinators - Jayson Roberts (defense) and Daryl Stewart (offense) - take over his job. For now, TBT athletic director Joe Reid says Roberts is the interim head coach as the Titans continue with conditioning prior to spring drills.

"(Roberts and Stewart) know what it takes to coach here at Tech because this is a special school,'' Culpepper said. "It's very unique at TBT because every kid has to apply and be accepted to get in and you have to have someone who knows that situation and the type of kids who come here.''

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