Up Close & Personal: Defensive Tackle Judge Culpepper

Brad Culpepper had been through it all before. After playing college football at Florida and spending nine seasons in the NFL, Culpepper experienced the recruiting process from a different perspective when his eldest son, Rex, drew 13 offers as a quarterback. Then it came time for his other son, Judge, a defensive lineman like his father, to choose which school he would attend. Having been through the process as both a player and a parent, Brad had two pieces of advice to impart.

The first: Go to a school that really wants you.

The second: Make sure you choose a school that will set you up for the rest of your life.

For both Judge and Brad, that place was Penn State. Unfazed by the distance from his native Tampa, Judge chose the Nittany Lions from an offer list that included 32 schools, including his father’s alma mater.

“My dad has always said, branch out, spread your wings, do your own thing and become your own man,” Culpepper said. “He said it would be fine if I went to Florida. You know, they were really on me until the end. I felt like Penn State is a program that’s on the rise, and to be recruited by them is such an honor that you can’t not take a visit. You can’t not take two visits. Once you do, it’s like there’s really nowhere else like it.”

Culpepper said he was sold on the coaching staff at Penn State right from the start, calling James Franklin’s assistants “the best coaching staff in the country.”

A four-star prospect and the 24th- ranked defensive tackle in the 2018 class according to Rivals.com, Culpepper said the philosophy of defensive line coach Sean Spencer was another selling point in the recruiting process.

“The biggest thing about him is that he’s a great coach but he’s also a great teacher,”Culpepper said. “He teaches his guys and he cares. He’s got a vested interest in the Wild Dogs. The scheme that he runs and the things that he does are very reminiscent of a pro coach, and I think that’s really cool and I think that he’s an unbelievable coach and he’s a great guy to play under.”

Culpepper, who stands 6-foot-4, 280 pounds, is yet another example of Franklin’s determination to recruit the most versatile athletes he can find. In addition to excelling on the defensive line, he played tight end at H.B. Plant High. One recruiting service rated him one of the top 15 prospects at that position in the Class of 2018.

But he was recruited to play on the opposite side of the ball after excelling as a defensive end throughout his career. Culpepper had eight sacks as a junior and he equaled that total as a senior, helping lead the Panthers to a 25-3 record during that span, including an appearance in the state championship game in 2016.

In recent months, Culpepper has worked on transforming his body so that he will be able to play the tackle position at the college level.

“I put on 25 pounds since the end of the season. I’m like 280 right now. Still fast, still feeling good, still quick,” he said. “If I can keep putting on good weight and staying athletic, then I’m going to keep doing it until I max out.”

While Culpepper’s physique has changed, his approach to the game remains constant. He’s going to attack each play with the same intensity, no matter where the Nittany Lions line him up.

“I’m still going to approach it with everything that I’ve got,” Culpepper said. “At D-tackle, D-end, my mindset is to come and compete. I want to play as early as I can. That’s one of my goals. No matter where they decide to put me or what job they give me, I’m going to do it to the best of my abilities.”

Starting defensive tackles Parker Cothren and Curtis Cothran have exhausted their eligibility, as has veteran backup Tyrell Chavis, opening up three vacancies on the top rungs of the depth chart. But if any of the Nittany Lions’ three four-star freshman defensive tackles – Aeneas Hawkins and P.J. Mustipher are the others – are to earn spots in the rotation this coming fall, they will have to do battle with redshirt freshmen Fred Hansard and the other young linemen who are cueing up behind veterans Kevin Givens and Robert Windsor.

But Culpepper isn’t one to shy away from competition.

“I want to work on my technique. I want to work on learning the playbook. I want to work on getting bigger, stronger, faster. I want to work on getting after some of the other teams in the Big Ten, winning that Big Ten championship, winning that national championship,” he said. “Those are two things that I think Penn State is right on the cusp of. They’ve already won the Big Ten, so now let’s win the show. I think that’s the biggest thing I want to do when I get there.”