On the football field and in the classroom, Tyler Rudolph is far from a finished product. But, oh, has he come a long way.

A native of Waterbury, Conn., Rudolph excelled in his final two seasons at the prep level, holding opposing wide receivers to a total of only five completions. But his ascent to that point was jagged and gradual. He bounced around initially to a couple of different schools before finding a home at St. Thomas More in Oakdale in 2017 and ’18. Rudolph repeated his junior year there in order to improve his grades, and in doing so, he set himself up to graduate early as a senior. While he was at it, he earned four stars from Rivals.com and tallied 21 scholarship offers. He chose Penn State over Clemson.

Although Rudolph played for a few different high school teams before he enrolled at PSU in January, he worked out during his off-seasons almost exclusively with Supreme Athletes, a training service based out of Bloomfield, Conn. It was his freshman year when he began under trainer Stack Williams, and Williams remembers Rudolph walking into the facility an entirely different person than he is now.

“When Tyler joined us, he was totally new,” Williams said. “He was totally new to the group, but Tyler could also ball. When he joined us, we knew he had the potential to be something special. He had that raw ability that just gave him a leg up on almost everyone that he played against.”

For Rudolph, it just took some time. He had to get comfortable. He already had the requisite size, natural athletic gifts and a toolbox full of skills that made him a versatile option both for his high school and seven-on-seven teams. Just as important, he also had the right mindset.

“Tyler was always very confident and very aggressive,” Williams said. “He lacked some of the polish, but he was always able to get the job done because he had that size and ability to play at a big-time level.”

After working with Williams and the staff at Supreme Athletes, it became abundantly clear to college recruiters that Rudolph had the frame and skill set to play at a high level in college. What he did not have, at least at first, were the necessary grades to get into some of the finer academic institutions that ultimately extended offers. So his report card became the top priority at St. Thomas More, and his focus on academics was fruitful.

“Off the field, we’re really proud of the person he’s been on our campus and in our community,” said Jeff Moore, who coached Rudolph in his two seasons at St. Thomas More. “He’s well-liked by everyone and has improved academically exponentially. He’s really taken a lot of pride in the classroom. He’s gone up a lot compared to before he got here.”

The steady improvement afforded Rudolph the opportunity to join the Nittany Lions a semester early. During winter workouts, he hit the ground running, despite arriving on campus wearing a wrist brace. Measuring 5-foot-11, 200 pounds, Rudolph is expected to provide the defense with some positional flexibility. A member of the Rivals250, he was rated the 20th-best cornerback in the Class of 2019, but his career has already began at a different spot. The coaching staff signed five cornerbacks in the most recent class, but only one pure safety: junior college prospect Jaquan Brisker.

“The coaches said I could play safety, cornerback, nickel or dime,” Rudolph said, before enrolling in January. “I could do a lot to help them. The position doesn’t matter to me.”

Those who have mentored Rudolph predict that he will rise to the occasion – just as he he did for them – no matter where he ends up playing down the road.

“[Penn State] has a plan for him,” Moore said. “He’s the kind of kid who will always work hard and is open to playing wherever they put him. I know he’ll figure it out, too. He has great instincts, so it won’t be hard for him to transition to whichever position they play him at. I’m not concerned with that whatsoever.”

Those instincts are what stood out to Williams when Rudolph first started training at his facility. Williams has watched Rudolph develop from a novice to an advanced player, from someone who was simply figuring it out, to a feared presence in the secondary.

“Tyler wants to take your soul,” Williams said. “He just wants to dominate you right from the start. He wants to put his hands on you and destroy your confidence. He always wants to end the mind game quickly, which is smart. Confidence is a big part of the game, and he does a great job taking everyone’s confidence away. He does a great job intimidating you quickly so you’ll never want to play him again.”