Inside who NC State’s Kurt Roper is as an offensive coordinator

It’s not the more than 50,000 screaming fans or the performance under the bright lights of the dozens of stadiums that Kurt Roper has coached in over his career that seems to drive his offensive mind.  Sure, scoring points by the boatload is the goal. Finding ways to get the ball to his team’s playmakers is too. But for Roper, a quiet practice field is where the heavy lifting is done. It’s where he sets himself apart.  Whether it was on Ole Miss’ backfields as an early quarterbacks coach with future two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning as his prized student or at Duke, where Roper got his start as an offensive coordinator, his ability to run a practice was unique. There’s always been a different level of intensity when it comes to Roper’s practices. It’s something that sticks with nearly every person that has crossed paths with the career assistant, no matter how many years they are removed from him.  “When I think of him, I don’t think of a moment in a game. I think of practice,” former Ole Miss and Duke head coach David Cutcliffe told TheWolfpacker.com of Roper. “I think of Kurt’s intensity to get it right. That carried right through to the players.” Cutcliffe, Roper’s former boss from the early stages of his 29-year coaching career, believes his former mentee’s ability to get what he wants done on the practice field is what led to his success as an offensive coordinator at Duke, Florida, South Carolina and now NC State.