The South Carolina sophomore originally committed to N.C. State before changing his mind when the Wolfpack fired coach Chuck Amato at the end of the 2006 season.

Culliver signed with South Carolina, the only school to recruit him as a receiver. But after struggling at the position last year, Culliver had another change of heart and moved to defense.

It took him three weeks this summer to earn a starting spot at free safety.

Talk to Culliver's teammates and coaches, and they all say the same thing: The former five-star recruit is in the right spot.

"Chris looks good back there. Wide receiver was not his position," Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier said. "He covers our guys. Comes up, makes tackles at the line of scrimmage. He runs 4.3 [seconds in the 40-yard dash]. He's a good-looking athlete back there."

In fact, recruiting analysts hung the "athlete" tag on Culliver when he was at Garner High School. The 6-foot, 199-pounder racked up 147 tackles and four interceptions as a safety his senior year and returned six kicks for touchdowns.

He played only a handful of games on offense. But after Culliver caught three passes for 97 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown reception, in an all-star game in Florida, USC and a few other schools began recruiting him as a wideout.

By that time, N.C. State had booted Amato and the assistant coaches who knew Culliver best. After Culliver reopened his recruitment, USC and Florida emerged as the finalists.

"We told him he could play what he wanted to," Gamecocks safeties coach Ron Cooper said. "We were going to give him a chance and that helped us get him."

Culliver had a tough time making the adjustment to receiver. He did not have a catch, and in his only start last season, at Tennessee, Culliver was replaced after two snaps.

Culliver moved to safety in the spring, and the Gamecocks' shift to a three-safety alignment under first-year defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson created an opportunity for Culliver, who has made the most of it.

Culliver also is used as a return specialist. His 809 yards on kickoff returns were the second most in school history (Dickie Harris posted 880 in 1970), while his 23.8-yard average was eighth in the SEC and won him a place on The Sporting News' All-SEC Freshman team.

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