NC State OC Kurt Roper outlines next steps in CJ Bailey's development

CJ Bailey exploded onto the college football stage this fall as one of the best true freshman quarterbacks in the country with NC State. He’s preparing for a big sophomore season, and some coaching continuity will help him hit the ground running during winter workouts.

Recently hired offensive coordinator Kurt Roper was instrumental in the signal-caller’s early development as quarterbacks coach. This year is a critical one for Bailey. NC State is 100 percent his team. He needs to lead the offense on and off the field, and that starts in the spring semester. 

The Wolfpack offensive coordinator’s bond with Bailey remains extremely strong. Now, the assistant coach can tailor on offense around the 6-6 standout. Roper laid out the development plan for Bailey Wednesday during his introductory press conference, separating it into three phases. 

Phase 1: NC State’s winter workouts

Bailey absolutely attacked the weight room when he joined the program as an early enrollee freshman last year. The towering quarterback arrived on campus at 187.4 pounds and managed to gain around 11 pounds, bringing him up to about 200 as spring practice began. 

Even though Bailey was supposed to redshirt this fall before Grayson McCall’s injuries, the signal-caller still prepared his body like he was going to see the field in 2024. That helped him remain healthy after running 99 times and taking 23 sacks as a freshman. 

NC State’s official roster now lists him at 210 pounds. Roper wants to see Bailey’s freshman season work ethic carry over to 2025 as he continues to develop in the Pack’s strength and conditioning program. 

“Bigger, stronger, faster, is a mindset,” Roper said. “He’s obviously a very long athlete and can get bigger as he gets older. He got here when he was 17 years old, so the weight room is going to pay dividends for him, and how he works is important.”

Phase 2: The film room

The Wolfpack quarterback is the clear-cut starter for NC State in 2025. It’s hard to tab someone as a “franchise quarterback” in the transfer portal era where already short tenures can be even more brief, but Bailey remains fully locked in with the program. 

During his debut campaign, the signal-caller from Florida threw for 2,413 yards, 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Bailey needed to learn to take in a lot of info in a short amount of time just to earn the backup job in fall camp last year. 

He took over the starting role, never looked back and now he’s going to spend plenty of time this offseason expanding his knowledge of the game. 

“I really teach football in three phases,” Roper said. “You’ve got to know the system, one, you have to understand situational football, two, and then you have to really start to grasp what defenses are trying to do. And all of those are never ending. They’re unending, right? So he’s working on that part of it in the film room.”

Phase 3: Leadership

Bailey is the starting quarterback of a program looking to rebound from a 6-7 season that fell well below expectations. NC State brought back almost every member of a talented, young offensive core. The coaching staff looks different, but the Pack promoted within to maintain continuity. 

His general positive disposition, constant smile and youthful enthusiasm endeared the quarterback to his teammates last fall. Bailey was already a leader of this team but, with the program losing three of its four captains from 2024, he has to step up in that department as NC State installs a new system this year. 

“The third phase is becoming a leader on the field and taking over,” Roper said. “He’s the guy that sets up the throwing and and has to get the guys together to just become better fundamentally and in what we’re doing schematically on the field.”