CULVER'S FUTURE BRIGHT ON, OFF FIELD FORMER PALMDALE STANDOUT EXCELS IN FOOTBALL, CLASSROOM AT FRESNO STATE.

Byline: Matthew Kredell Staff Writer

A big part of Palmdale High football coach Jeff Williams' job each year is getting his kids to stay eligible.

Tyrone Culver is making Palmdale look good, in the classroom and on the field, up north at Fresno State.

Culver, who will be a fifth-year senior next fall, carried a 4.0 grade- point average last fall. He was selected as an Arthur Ashe Jr. Scholar-Athlete and twice has been selected for the Academic All-Western Athletic Conference team.

``I've always done well in academics,'' Culver said. ``It's what my parents stressed. Palmdale has its struggles academically, but the school is really what you make of it.''

Culver, who recently switched his major to pre-dental from physical therapy, has never had a GPA lower than 3.2 at Fresno State.

On the football field, Culver is catching the attention of NFL scouts, with the size (6-foot-1, 210 pounds) and speed (4.48 seconds in the 40-yard dash) the league looks for in safeties.

Culver learned to be a hard hitter as a member of one of the area's most physical defenses at Palmdale. He honed his run-support skills playing against mostly ground-oriented Golden League teams, and he was second at Fresno State in tackles last season with 65 in his first year as a full-time starter.

He also had a steep learning curve when it came to learning pass defense.

``He wasn't much of a pass defender here,'' Palmdale coach Jeff Williams said. ``He didn't have to be. But he's worked hard on that at Fresno State. They've done a great job with him.''

Before Culver headed to the Central Valley, Fresno State had hovered near .500 for a decade and was coming off a 7-5 season. In his freshman year, Fresno State went 11-3, peaked at No. 7 in the national rankings and saw quarterback David Carr taken with the first pick in the NFL Draft.

The Bulldogs have since won at least nine games each year and made a habit of upsetting ranked teams.

``He had offers from Colorado and Oregon State,'' said Lanell Culver, Tyrone's father. ``But he felt Fresno State was really a program on the rise. He saw it before most, and he wanted to be a part of that.''

Fresno State also is close enough for his family to attend games. His father makes it to nearly all home games, and more family will be in attendance when the Bulldogs play two-time defending national champion USC this year at the Coliseum.

A big performance in that game certainly would help Culver in reaching his ultimate goal. Dental school is the fallback. First, he wants a shot in the NFL.

``Every boy grows up with the dream of making the league,'' Culver said. ``I know right now I need to have a good year. I believe if I do have a good year and a good combine, it's a realistic goal.''

Matthew Kredell, [phone]

matthew.kredell(at)dailynews.com