Culpepper leaving Tampa Bay Tech for GSU

TAMPA, FL - 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.

Culpepper steps down at TBT

The most prosperous era in Tampa Bay Tech football history concluded earlier today, when Titans coach C.C. Culpepper informed his players he is stepping down to join Doug Williams' staff at Grambling State University.

TBT principal Scott Brooks confirmed Culpepper, also a highly respected business teacher at the school, informed him first thing this morning he was resigning. He's the fourth Hillsborough County coach to step down -- either voluntarily or by force -- this offseason.

"When Doug Williams calls and asks you, I'm not sure how you tell him no," Brooks said.

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