12/17/2018 football Edit

NC State hires Kurt Roper as its quarterbacks coach

Matt Carter • TheWolfpackCentral

Editor

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Roper has extensive experience as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. (cubuffs.com)

NC State is filling out one of the vacancies on its offensive staff by announcing the hire of Kurt Roper as its quarterbacks coach.

“I’m excited to add a tremendous coach and person with great experience to our offensive staff,” head coach Dave Doeren said in a prepared statement. “Kurt is an incredible teacher and a true developer of players at the QB position. He’s also a connected and highly respected recruiter who knows this region well.”

“My family and I are thrilled about coming to NC State as a part of Coach Doeren’s staff,” Roper added. “Working for a great coach at a great university with an unbelievable fan base is a great opportunity and I can’t wait to get started.”

Roper was the interim head coach at Colorado for a game after head coach Mike MacIntyre was fired. Previously he had served at CU’s quarterbacks coach and played an integral role in landing three-star, Elite 11 quarterback Ty Evans from Palmer Ridge High in Monument, Colo. Evans switched his commitment to NC State after the coaching change.

Roper is best known as a David Cutcliffe disciple. He worked as a graduate assistant at Tennessee before getting his first assistant job when Cutcliffe, who was then the offensive coordinator for Tennessee, was hired to become head coach at Ole Miss. Roper was Ole Miss’ quarterbacks coach from 1999-2001 and elevated to passing game coordinator in 2002. He was the position coach of future two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Eli Manning at Ole Miss.

After Cutcliffe was let go at Ole Miss, Roper coached quarterbacks at Kentucky for a year before rejoining Cutcliffe in Tennessee, where Cutcliffe was hired as offensive coordinator and Roper served as his running backs coach for two years. When Cutcliffe left to become the head coach at Duke, Roper became his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Roper served in that role from 2008-13, coaching successful Blue Devil quarterbacks Thad Lewis and Sean Renfree, both of whom played in the NFL.

After being named a finalist for the Broyles Award, given to the top assistant coach in college football, in 2013, Roper was hired at Florida as its offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach in 2014. When head coach Will Muschamp was fired following that year, Roper spent the 2015 season in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns before being hired by Muschamp at South Carolina in 2016, where he was the co-offensive coordinator for two years before Muschamp relieved him, and then he landed at Colorado for the 2018 season.

Roper replaces Eli Drinkwitz, who was hired as Appalachian State’s head coach last week. Drinkwitz was also the Pack’s offensive coordinator. Running backs coach Des Kitchings and receivers coach George McDonald were promoted to co-offensive coordinators.

NC State is still searched for an offensive line coach to replace Dwayne Ledford, who is headed to Louisville, presumably for its offensive coordinator job.