Gators hire Duke’s Kurt Roper as new offensive coordinator

Published on Tuesday, 12/24/13, at 5:45 p.m. Eastern.

By Brian Edwards

According to multiple reports in the last hour, Florida will name Duke offensive coordinator Kurt Roper as its new OC later this week. Will Muschamp fired Brent Pease as OC after the Gators limped to their worst season since 1979.

Roper has been David Cutcliffe’s o-coordinator since 2008. The Blue Devils averaged 31.6 points per game this year, 31.5 PPG in 2012. UF failed to score more than 30 points in all 12 of its games this year.

Roper has plenty of SEC experience. He got started as a grad assistant at Tennessee in the mid-1990s. He joined Cutcliffe at Ole Miss when the Duke HC left UT for Oxford.

In 2005, Roper was the QBs coach at Kentucky. He returned to the Tennessee staff in 2006 and 2007 before reuniting with Cutcliffe in Durham.

The Gators have had an abysmal offense in three seasons under Muschamp. Roper is the third OC, replacing Pease after Charlie Weis bolted for Kansas following the 2010 season.

This is a crucial hire for Muschamp, who will go into the 2014 campaign on a boiling hot seat.