Alligator Army - Florida coaching changes: Kurt Roper hired to replace Brent PeaseChampionship Mode: It's when we thrive.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46671/ali_army_fave.png2014-01-06T16:41:12-05:00http://www.alligatorarmy.com/rss/stream/49274832014-01-06T16:41:12-05:002014-01-06T16:41:12-05:00Florida hires Mike Summers as OL coach
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<figcaption>Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>After being linked to Lane Kiffin and Clay Helton, Florida finally pulls a coach from USC in Mike Summers.</p> <p>Florida has <a href="http://www.gatorzone.com/story.php?id=26971" target="new">hired USC offensive line coach Mike Summers</a> for the same position at Florida, the school announced through GatorZone on Monday afternoon.</p>
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<p>"I’m excited to have Coach Summers join our staff," said Muschamp. "He has 34 years of experience, has been an offensive coordinator for 15 years and has coached in the SEC. He has a diverse background and has experience in the NFL. He will be a great addition to our staff."</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>"I’m honored to be joining Coach Muschamp and his staff," said Summers. "I have the utmost respect for Coach Muschamp, the staff and the support system in place. Having been in the SEC I have always held the Florida program in high regard and I’m looking forward to getting right to work."</p>
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<p>Coaching Search <a href="http://coachingsearch.com/coaching-search-ticker" target="new">reported Sunday</a> that Summers had interviewed for the position. A source told Alligator Army that Summers interviewed for the position in Gainesville on Sunday.</p>
<p>The watchword with Summers is likely to be experience, which appears twice in Muschamp's statement on his hiring. He has coached at USC, Kentucky, Arkansas, Louisville, Ohio, Oklahoma State, The University of the South, Oregon State, Northern Illinois, and Texas A&M during his 33-year coaching career, and spent a year in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons. <a href="http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/mike_summers_841814.html">His USC bio</a> reads almost like an unfurled scroll.</p>
<p>But Summers also likely brings a level of comfort and familiarity to Florida's offense — he worked under Florida wide receivers coach Joker Phillips during his time at Kentucky from 2010 to 2012. That makes him one of two Florida coaches with previous ties to Phillips: Incoming offensive coordinator Kurt Roper worked with Phillips at Kentucky in 2005.</p>
<p>And given that Phillips was the lone offensive coach whose position group was viewed as more or less a success in a disastrous 2013 season, it might not be a bad idea to bring in guys who think like and can work with someone who knows how to develop players.</p>
<p>This hire is likely to be Florida's last one, completing Will Muschamp's staff for his make-or-break 2014 season, and not just because GatorZone's Scott Carter's lede is literally "The revamping of Gators coach Will Muschamp’s staff is complete." The only other plausible change would have been the firing of tight ends coach Derek Lewis, but his instrumental role in landing recruit Gerald Willis from his native Louisiana serves as good evidence that he is very much a part of Muschamp's staff.</p>
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https://www.alligatorarmy.com/2014/1/6/5281344/florida-hires-mike-summers-offensive-line-coachAndy Hutchins2014-01-05T12:44:30-05:002014-01-05T12:44:30-05:00Searels to be hired as Florida OL coach?
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<figcaption>Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>At the very least, Stacy Searels has to be considered the front-runner to be Florida's next offensive line coach.</p> <p>Late Saturday night, both 247Sports' <a href="http://florida.247sports.com/Article/Sources-Stacy-Searels-expected-to-be-hired-as-Florida-OL-coach-169603" target="new">GatorBait.net</a> ($) and Scout's <a href="http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=168&f=1805&t=12549088" target="new">Fightin' Gators</a> ($) reported that Texas offensive line coach Stacy Searels would be named to the same position at Florida, with an announcement possible on Sunday. Sunday morning, Florida rebuffed those reports.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>There are still multiple OL coaching candidates and there will be no hire today. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Gators&src=hash">#Gators</a></p>
— GatorZone Football (@GatorZoneFB) <a href="https://twitter.com/GatorZoneFB/statuses/419854452955557888">January 5, 2014</a>
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<p>One problem with Florida trying to make that idea stick: Searels has seemed to be far and away the best and most logical candidate for the job for weeks, and there are only two other names that have even been credibly linked to the position.</p>
<p>The first of those names is Western Kentucky offensive line coach Neil Callaway, who was <a target="_blank" href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20131125/florida-jeremy-foley-will-muschamp/">first mentioned way back in November by <i>Sports Illustrated</i>'s Pete Thamel</a>, and whose purported front-runner status seemed linked with USC offensive coordinator <a target="_blank" href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/12/23/5239052/clay-helton-florida-gators-offensive-coordinator-search/in/4927483">Clay Helton's purported front-runner status</a> for the offensive coordinator job that would <a target="_blank" href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/12/26/5244950/kurt-roper-florida-gators-offensive-coordinator-official/in/4927483">eventually go to Duke's Kurt Roper</a>.</p>
<p>The second is Duke offensive line coach John Latina, whose candidacy was <a target="_blank" href="http://footballrumormill.com/2014/01/03/rumor-mill-college-football-coaching-news-rumors-friday-jan-3/">first mentioned by Football Rumor Mill on Friday</a>, and whose hiring would fit the need for more harmony between Florida's offensive coordinator and offensive line coaches in the wake of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/12/1/5163532/brent-pease-tim-davis-friction-florida-gators-2013/in/4927483">reported "friction" between Brent Pease and Tim Davis</a>, who were <a target="_blank" href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/12/1/5163334/brent-pease-fired-florida-gators-offensive-coordinator/in/4927483">both</a> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/12/1/5163420/tim-davis-fired-florida-gators-offensive-line-coach/in/4927483">fired</a> in late November.</p>
<p>And neither Callaway, who has SEC experience after years as an offensive coach at Alabama and Georgia, and had a stint as UAB's head coach, nor Latina, whose last two years spent at Duke as an OL coach with Roper theoretically makes for all the working rapport one would need in an OL coach with Roper, had the smoke that accompanied Searels at one point — namely, <a target="_blank" href="http://florida.247sports.com/Board/14/OL-Coach-Nuggets-1230-11-am-24407966/1">another GatorBait report</a> ($) that a current Texas player's parent was told Searels would be Florida's next offensive line coach.</p>
<p>Searels is also perceived to be close to Major Applewhite, who was considered a possibility at offensive coordinator for Florida, and both Applewhite and Searels have ties to Will Muschamp. Muschamp and Applewhite were on Mack Brown's Texas staff from 2008 to 2010, and Muschamp both coached with Searels at LSU in 2003 and 2004 and was part of why Searels was hired at Texas in 2010.</p>
<p>Because of all that, I still strongly expect Searels to be hired as Florida's offensive line coach. Eventually. But I think that there's some hesitance on Florida's part to confirm media reports as they happen, given the program's strong preference for controlling the announcement of news, and I also think that announcing a hire from Texas before former Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong is fully introduced as Texas's next head coach has just enough of a degree of difficulty that Florida might rather wait a couple of days.</p>
<p>Searels is, by many accounts, a very good coach, and has been a very good recruiter at Texas. But Florida's more or less set at offensive line in the Class of 2014 as is, and it's still got months to go before spring practice in April; he would go to work on the recruiting trail almost immediately, but Searels more likely to be doing getting-to-know-you recon or working on recruits who committed to him at Texas than trying hard to add new targets to the Gators' board for the five-week spring to National Signing Day.</p>
<p>Florida can safely wait a day or two to announce his hiring, if that is its play. I think it might.</p>
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https://www.alligatorarmy.com/2014/1/5/5276542/stacy-searels-florida-gators-offensive-line-coach-reportsAndy Hutchins2014-01-02T14:20:23-05:002014-01-02T14:20:23-05:00Almost aced: Evaluating Roper's final exam at Duke
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<p>Thousands of Florida fans who were not otherwise getting inebriated tuned into the 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl to see the Duke offense coordinated by Kurt Roper, hired the week prior to the same position at Florida. They got a show.</p> <p>Duke lost the 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl to Texas A&M because of its offense, an incredible-but-true circumstance that arises when 52-48 is the final score and the offense that put up 48 had multiple chances to put the game away or change its outcome late.</p>
<p>And the way in which Duke's offense passed up those chances — a couple of awful interceptions, one on a terrible decision from quarterback <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113347/anthony-boone">Anthony Boone</a>, one on a blitz that overwhelmed the Duke front — seemed almost calculated to give pause to Florida fans watching the game to get a peek at the offense run by Kurt Roper, hired on December 24 as the Gators' new offensive coordinator.</p>
<p>But the path to those 48 points was paved with all kinds of goodness, the sort of stuff that hasn't been seen from the Gators in Gainesville in several years. And I think it would be hard to come away from watching Roper's offense execute the Aggies to within an inch of their football death without feeling very positively — for the most part — about Roper's chances of doing good things for Florida.</p>
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<p>Roper's offense produced results that Florida fans would have killed for at any point in the last four years. The Blue Devils scored 48 points, more than Florida has scored since Tim Tebow's departure from Gainesville in all but one game, a 54-32 win over Furman in 2011. They rolled up 661 yards of total offense, more than Florida has put up since a 2009 bludgeoning of Troy — and more than the Gators gained against Cincinnati in a dominant 2010 Sugar Bowl victory, in what was Tebow's finest game as a passer. The 48 points is also more than Florida scored in <i>any two of its last seven games of 2013 combined</i>; the yardage only narrowly misses the same distinction, because Florida managed 663 yards of total offense between its two losses to Georgia and Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>That yardage and those points were also gained efficiently. Duke's 8.06 yards per play against A&M would be third (behind a 2012 immolation of Tennessee and a Jeff Demps/Chris Rainey-aided 2011 romp over) in that statistic for Florida in the Will Muschamp era, and was Duke's own best mark in that stat since a 2007 game against Navy. Duke never punted, something Florida has done just twice under Muschamp, and hyperaggressiveness wasn't to blame: The Blue Devils went for it on four fourth downs, converting three, and adding to a fine 9-for-15 mark on third down. Essentially, of the 15 times that Duke got to third down — and Duke only saw <i>four</i> of those third downs in its entire 38-point first half — the Blue Devils eventually succeeded on 12 of those sets of downs. The three "failures" weren't actually all failures, either, as one missed third down resulted in a made field goal; the two others, resulting in a missed field goal and a turnover on downs, were Duke's only real failures to move the ball until its final two drives.</p>
<p>Do you want to see balance from the Gators, like Muschamp — who was quoted praising Roper's ability to be balanced in <a target="new" href="http://www.gatorzone.com/story.php?id=26931">the GatorZone story announcing his hire</a> — does? Duke averaged 6.3 yards per carry, and 9.5 yards per pass<a class="footnote" title="see footnote" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1">¹</a>. Three Duke players — Boone and running backs <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113348/josh-snead">Josh Snead</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113351/juwan-thompson">Juwan Thompson</a> — averaged better than three yards a carry<a class="footnote" title="see footnote" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2">²</a>, and six Duke receivers averaged at least 13.6 yards per catch.</p>
<p>Those numbers reflect Duke's ability to be explosive, too. The Blue Devils had 22 plays of more than 10 yards on Tuesday, and 11 plays of more than 20 yards. Florida had 131 plays of more than 10 yards in 2013, tied for 116th among FBS schools, and had 37 plays of more than 20 yards, good for 118th<a class="footnote" title="see footnote" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">³</a>.</p>
<p>Boone was great, completing 29 of 45 passes for 425 yards, three touchdowns, and two picks. But he was <i>absurd</i>until those last two drives, on which he went 5-for-12 for 52 yards and both of his picks. Prior to those last two drives, he was 24 for 33 for 372 yards and three touchdowns, which produces an NCAA passer rating of 197.42. To put that in perspective, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/159092/jameis-winston">Jameis Winston</a> is having arguably the best season for a passer in college football history — and his passer rating is 190.06 through 13 games.</p>
<p>The picks and the incompletions brought down Boone's passer rating to 157.26 on the night. It's still a rating better than Florida posted in every game except Tyler Murphy's fine outings against Kentucky and Arkansas.</p>
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<p>And that's just what you can glean from the box score and the play-by-play. Duke was more impressive on film than the box score can note — until late in the game, anyway.</p>
<p>Boone was great in part because of his ability to take his time and work through his progressions. Duke's line kept him upright, giving up just that one sack, and Boone rarely rushed throws or missed receivers; when he did, late, it was devastating, but Boone made the wrong decision and a poor throw on his first pick, and his second pick was tipped due to pressure.</p>
<p>Boone looked superior to the quarterback play I saw in 2013 from all three Florida QBs against A&M, though the caveat is that he got much better line play. He was better at getting through his reads and more accurate than <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/131897/jeff-driskel">Jeff Driskel</a>, displayed significantly more arm strength than a healthy Murphy and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/158402/skyler-mornhinweg">Skyler Mornhinweg</a>, and was generally more successful than all three in every facet of quarterback play except running the ball, where Driskel and healthy Murphy might both eclipse him.</p>
<p>And that was just Boone. Duke's offense looked very, very sharp as a whole on the night. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/201945/jamison-crowder">Jamison Crowder</a> is very much like <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/111922/solomon-patton">Solomon Patton</a>, but was utilized better than Patton was ever used in 2013 on Tuesday night, and went off for 163 yards on 12 catches, including a 59-yard touchdown bomb. Tight end <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113374/braxton-deaver">Braxton Deaver</a> was also superb, catching six passes for 116 yards and repeatedly making big plays over the middle<a class="footnote" title="see footnote" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">⁴</a>. And tight end <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/133802/david-reeves">David Reeves</a> made one of the plays of the 2013 bowl season with his ridiculous tightrope act.</p>
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<p>But the night was not a total success, and we can start explaining that by noting that Reeves's sensational play was the last big one Duke's offense made on the night, and essentially the only great thing the offense did in the second half.</p>
<p>Duke went to halftime up 38-17 on Texas A&M. It lost the game mostly because <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/134696/johnny-manziel">Johnny Manziel</a> squeezed every drop of magic out of his corporeal form and used it to set the Georgia Dome turf ablaze, but also because it scored just 10 points in the second half, and gave A&M — Manziel, really — chance after chance.</p>
<p>By the time Reeves Janelle Monae'd into the end zone, A&M had responded to Duke's 38-17 opening with a 21-3 run of its own, with Duke opting to go for it from A&M's 35 and failing, missing a field goal from A&M's 29, and settling for a field goal on fourth and goal at the A&M 2 during that stretch to open the second half. It's hard to pin field goal-or-fourth down decisions on an offensive coordinator, but Roper has been Duke head coach David Cutcliffe's right-hand man for many, many years, and it's unreasonable to think he had no input on those plays.</p>
<p>And Duke's failure on that first fourth down of the second half — which came on a pass from Boone to backup quarterback <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113350/brandon-connette">Brandon Connette</a>, a cut-rate version of Tebow in 2006, on fourth and one — can be charged to Roper, with the later decision to take three points instead of a chance at seven in the midst of a shootout assessed as collateral damage.</p>
<p>Boone's last two picks were also both bad plays. His first came on a throw that was average at best, and to a covered receiver; A&M's Tony Hurd, Jr. made an excellent play on the ball and came away with a pick-six, but Boone could have done a few things better. His second pick was less on him than his line, but had he simply held onto the ball and taken a lack while protecting the football — something Driskel also needs to re-learn, given the first three games of 2013 — Duke might have been able to keep hope alive.</p>
<p>I think Roper also veered a bit too far from the running game that had been mauling the Aggies late in the game. Duke's nine pass plays on its final drive make plenty of sense as a response to needing a touchdown with less than four minutes to go, but its run-pass mix in the second half up to that point quarters was merely good and not great at draining the clock, and that left A&M its opening.</p>
<p>Furthermore, for a staff that was lauded by Coaching Search's Pete Rousel just days before <a href="http://coachingsearch.com/article?a=The-one-thing-Florida-Gator-fans-need-to-know-about-Kurt-Roper" target="new">for its skill with clock management</a>, Duke's errors in clock management were puzzling. The Blue Devils were flagged for a delay of game on third and six, and though there were caveats on that play — Duke eventually converted the third down, and the flag might have been attributible to a clock malfunction — that's a penalty Florida fans will absolutely roast Roper's offense for getting in 2014. Likewise, after a great onside kick and recovery in the first half<a class="footnote" title="see footnote" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a>, Duke bled the clock at the end of the first half, but opted to play for a field goal, not a touchdown, after getting a goal-to-go series. That probably falls more on Cutcliffe than Roper — but, again, for a staff lauded for its smart clock management, kicking a field goal on second down from the opposing team's 1 at the end of a half strikes me as a curious choice.</p>
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<p>And, ultimately, while the impression from Duke's night is overwhelmingly positive, one question lingers: How much of Duke's success springs from Cutcliffe, and how much from Roper? Roper has called plays for the Blue Devils for years, and he was calling them on Tuesday night, but he's a Cutcliffe disciple about as much as any coach can be a disciple of any other, and even if the strange things Duke did against A&M were on Cutcliffe, that's the guy whose tutelage has molded Roper. Hiring Roper is taking the plumpest apple off Cutcliffe's coaching tree, but it's still likely to be viewed as taking an apple and not snipping off a branch.</p>
<p>If Roper's labor in Gainesville bears fruit this fall, however, I'll be hard-pressed to care about how much credit Cutcliffe deserves for his success. And I won't be alone.</p>
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<div style="font-size:100%;" class="footnotes">
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<p>Strip out the one sack of Boone, for seven yards, and the YPC jumps to 6.7</p>
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<p>Adjust for Boone's sack and they all managed better than six yards per carry.</p>
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<p>With a few bowls left to be played, Duke is ranked 39th and 44th in those two stats.</p>
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<p>Five of Deaver's six catches went for first downs.</p>
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<p>I loved this decision so much I'll be writing more about it in a future post.</p>
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https://www.alligatorarmy.com/2014/1/2/5266614/kurt-roper-duke-blue-devils-2013-chick-fil-a-bowl-review-florida-gatorsAndy Hutchins2013-12-27T13:16:21-05:002013-12-27T13:16:21-05:00Thoughts on Roper, and a Dooley tidbit
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<p>A tidbit from Pat Dooley worth noting leads to some thoughts that may or may not be right.</p> <p><i>The Gainesville Sun</i>'s Pat Dooley is often set out as the figurehead of the media covering the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/florida-gators">Florida Gators</a>, for good and for bad — no one else has <a target="new" href="https://twitter.com/SadPatDooley">@SadPatDooley</a> — but his sources are many, and his roots very deep in Gainesville. He can <a href="https://twitter.com/SadPatDooley">write about Steve Spurrier calling <i>him</i></a> in his writeup of Kurt Roper being hired as Florida's offensive coordinator without it feeling like anything other than the privilege of a institution.</p>
<p>Yes, Dooley misses some things from time to time, most recently <a href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/12/23/5239668/reports-florida-offensive-coordinator-hire-not-coming-until-after/in/4927483">reporting that Florida was slowing down its hunt for an offensive coordinator</a>, but he's still got knowledge many would do unspeakable things for, and he can drop juicy tidbits without even having to whisper about them. Like, for example, this one (boldface mine):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There are no guarantees that Roper is the right choice. This wasn't the most attractive job in the world because of the uncertainty — whether perceived or real — about (Muschamp's) future. Some candidates were eliminated because they found better jobs (Blake Anderson at Arkansas State) and <b>some because they didn't have the right answers in interviews</b>.</p>
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<p>Roper was the first candidate who was reported to have interviewed with Muschamp, but the bolded text surely suggests that he wasn't the only one, and likely not the first. At a minimum, I'd guess that the proximity of Blake Anderson's name to the other tidbit suggests he interviewed, and maybe had "the right answers in interviews," whatever those are<a href="#fn:1" id="fnref:1" title="see footnote" class="footnote">¹</a>.</p>
<p>This means, likely, that Roper was not Florida's first candidate, and <a target="new" href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/12/26/5245252/kurt-roper-salary-florida-offensive-coordinator">the $600,000 annual salary the <i>Sun</i> is reporting for him</a> certainly suggests that he wasn't a bank-breaking dream candidate. Dooley's "This wasn't the most attractive job in the world" note suggests that candidates may have politely declined Florida's overtures, too.</p>
<p>Taken together, those details paint a picture of Roper as the candidate Muschamp settled for or on — and, if Dooley and Mark Long (who added his own confirmation that Florida would take its time with a hire) had initially solid info on the Gators slowing down their search, it's possible that Muschamp et al. decided on Roper to avoid the possibility of letting the process drag on into late December or January, aggravating the irritation of Florida fans who have been beyond irritated since, oh, October.</p>
<p>None of that conjecture means that Roper won't be a good offensive coordinator at Florida. But some of the optics of the search and his hiring look off to Gators fans, and that won't make them any easier to win back in the near future.</p>
<div style="font-size:100%;" class="footnotes">
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<p>This is the part where a snarkier writer would list a bunch of things about how "running the ball" and "not screwing up" and "getting us 21 points, c'mon" are really "right answers" to Muschamp, but I really don't know what the right answers at this point in time actually are. I think Muschamp's wildest dreams for his offense have always centered around a unit that controls the ball and does enough to keep stress off the defense, and does so with run-pass balance similar to that of Nick Saban's Alabama teams that seem to churn out games with 200 yards passing and 200 yards rushing with regularity, but Muschamp's not the inflexible and backwards buffoon he is sometimes portrayed as, and, as such, I expect his expectations, and maybe his hopes, have become more malleable.</p>
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https://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/12/27/5248322/kurt-roper-offensive-coordinator-hiring-pat-dooleyAndy Hutchins2013-12-26T11:18:54-05:002013-12-26T11:18:54-05:00Roper to make $600K, according to report
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<figcaption>Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The number puts him in line with Brent Pease, and a little behind Charlie Weis.</p> <p>New Florida offensive coordinator Kurt Roper will make $600,000 for a year's work, according to Robbie Andreu of <i>The Gainesville Sun</i>.</p>
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<p>Roper will make $600,000 a year, The Sun has learned.</p>
— Robbie Andreu (@RobbieAndreu) <a href="https://twitter.com/RobbieAndreu/statuses/416221665677168640">December 26, 2013</a>
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<p>It's not clear how long Roper's contract guarantees him that salary — Florida hasn't yet released the terms of Roper's employment, though we'll have them for you as soon as the school does — but it's a good bet it's for two or three years.</p>
<p>Roper's recent predecessors, Charlie Weis and Brent Pease, each signed three-year deals. Weis's salary <a href="http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-02-25/sports/os-florida-gators-coaches-salary-022520110225_1_bryant-young-kirby-smart-muschamp" target="new">was $765,000 in 2011</a>, and he had a three-year deal worth $2.6 million. Pease was paid a $490,000 base salary in 2012, but <a href="http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/gatorbytes/2012/03/06/florida-releases-contracts-for-brent-pease-1-8m-over-3-years-jeff-dillman-tim-davis/" target="new">made $600,000 including bonuses</a> — likely factored into the number Andreu is reporting — and signed a three-year, $1.8 million contract. Pease was then given a raise in early 2013 — <a href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/5/10/4318906/brent-pease-raise-florida-gators-2012-offense" target="new">one I defended as deserved</a> — that made his annual salary $590,000.</p>
<p>Obviously, Florida is paying Roper well, and would like to get a little more out of Roper's offense than it did from coordinators it paid at similar rates, but it seems likely the Gators did not exactly break the bank to pry him away from Duke.</p>
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https://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/12/26/5245252/kurt-roper-salary-florida-offensive-coordinatorAndy Hutchins2013-12-26T09:46:04-05:002013-12-26T09:46:04-05:00Roped in: Muschamp tabs Duke's Roper as Gators' OC
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<figcaption>Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Florida has its man — and is bringing its first coach to the Gators football program from Duke since Steve Spurrier.</p> <p>Florida has hired Duke offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper to the same positions on its staff, <a href="http://www.gatorzone.com/story.php?id=26931" target="_blank">the school announced through GatorZone on Thursday</a>.</p>
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<p>"I'm excited to have Coach Roper join our staff," Muschamp said. "He has a diverse, up-tempo background on offense and does a good job of adapting to what the players do best. The most important thing though is he has always remained balanced.</p>
<p>"He has had success calling plays in the SEC and has tutored three NFL quarterbacks. He has had players produce at every offensive position and he is one of the most well-respected coaches in the country."</p>
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<p>GatorZone writer <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/12745/scott-carter">Scott Carter</a> also writes that Muschamp "tabbed" Roper for the offensive coordinator job on Thursday:</p>
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<p>Muschamp met with Roper earlier in the week and tabbed him Thursday to replace Brent Pease, Florida's offensive coordinator the past two seasons.</p>
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<p>Roper will serve in his current role for Duke during the team's 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl game against Texas A&M.</p>
<p>ESPN's Edward Aschoff was <a href="http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10192070/florida-gators-hire-kurt-roper-duke-blue-devils-oc" target="new">first to report that Florida would hire Roper</a> on Tuesday, with <a href="http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/eye-on-college-football/24387021/florida-to-hire-duke-oc-kurt-roper-to-replace-brent-pease" target="new">CBS Sports' Bruce Feldman</a> and <a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/12/24/3484559/duke-offensive-coordinator-kurt.html" target="new">Laura Keeley of the <i>(Raleigh) News & Observer</i></a> each following with confirmations. Many reporters, led by <a href="https://twitter.com/DaveJonesUFbeat/status/416200078387609600" target="new"><i>FLORIDA TODAY</i>'s David Jones</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/pat_dooley/status/416205978645069824" target="new"><i>The Gainesville Sun</i>'s Pat Dooley</a>, reported Thursday morning that Florida would announce the hire shortly.</p>
<p>Roper spent six years on David Cutcliffe's staff at Duke, and has been a Cutcliffe lieutenant for about 15 years, dating back to a stint from 1996 to 1998 as an assistant under Cutcliffe while the then-Tennessee offensive coordinator coached the Peyton Manning-helmed Vols. He served as Cutcliffe's quarterbacks coach during his six-year stint from 1999 to 2004 at Mississippi, and was the Rebels' passing game coordinator from 2002 to 2004, spent a year coaching quarterbacks under Rich Brooks (and alongside Florida wide receivers coach Joker Phillips) at Kentucky, and returned to Tennessee in 2006 to coach running backs for two seasons. As such, Roper was the primary college position coach for Eli Manning and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/10973/arian-foster">Arian Foster</a> — two names you might have heard.</p>
<p>Roper was also named a finalist for the 2013 Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's best assistant coach. (Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi won the award.) Here's his (amusing and appealing, in my view) speech at the ceremony.</p>
<p><iframe frameborder="0" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/8a_8v0LzJjE" height="360" width="640"></iframe></p>
<p>Roper will be tasked with resurrecting a Florida offense that has fallen from a peak during Urban Meyer's years with <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/10166/tim-tebow">Tim Tebow</a> to a valley of triple-digit rankings and anemic performances — Florida's injury-ravaged offense failed to score more than 20 points in its last seven games under Brent Pease in 2013, all losses. And even merely scoring exactly 20 points in <i>all</i> of those games would have gotten Florida a 6-6 record; had Florida managed 27 points in all of those games, the Gators would have finished the regular season 8-4.</p>
<p>Roper's last two offenses at Duke have produced 31.6 and 31.5 points per game in 2013 and 2012, respectively — and have been held under 20 points just five times in the 26 games Duke has played since the beginning of the 2012 season.</p>
<p>Roper's arrival could mean the departure of Florida tight ends coach Derek Lewis, who has been scarce on the recruiting trail of late, and was not, apparently, part of the party that saw him on his visit to Gainesville on Monday, which <a href="https://twitter.com/RagjUF/status/415165881027551232" target="new">included Muschamp</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/RagjUF/status/415166339675074560" target="new">running backs coach Brian White</a>. Kurt Roper's brother, Zac Roper, serves as Duke's tight ends coach and special teams coordinator, and a move to Florida with Kurt would make sense for Zac. But Adam Rowe of Blue Devil Lair, Rivals' Duke site, reports that Kurt Roper is <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueDevilLair/status/416210593796743168" target="new">the only Duke coach expected to depart Durham</a>.</p>
<p>Roper is the first coach Florida has hired from Duke since hiring Duke head coach Steve Spurrier as the program's head coach in 1990. That worked out, as you may recall.</p>
<p>Roper's offense is the most prolific in Duke history save for Spurrier's, though, with the 2012 offense producing the second-most yards in school history, at 5,319 (behind Spurrier's 1989 offense, which tallied 5,519), and the second-most passing yards in school history, at 3,691 (behind Spurrier's 1988 offense, with 3,868). With bowl game statistics added, the 2013 Duke offense, sitting at 5,305 yards through 13 games, should eclipse Spurrier's 1989 school record for total offense.</p>
<p>And Roper has had success against Florida in The Swamp, as <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/coachingsearch/status/415667969344020480">Coaching Search's Pete Roussel pointed out on Tuesday</a>. He was Mississippi's offensive coordinator in 2002 and 2003, when Eli Manning-led Ole Miss teams downed Ron Zook-coached Florida squads home and away. Mississippi racked up 485 yards in its 2003 visit to Gainesville, and put together a game-winning drive that punched in the deciding touchdown with 1:10 to go in a 20-17 victory.</p>
<p>Now, focus will shift from Florida's offensive coordinator search to Roper's fit — which I will argue is good, despite Roper's lack of name recognition among Florida fans — to Florida's search for an offensive line coach to replace Tim Davis. Expect harmony with Roper to be a focus of that search after reports that conflict between Davis and Pease contributed to the failures of the 2013 offense.</p>
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https://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/12/26/5244950/kurt-roper-florida-gators-offensive-coordinator-officialAndy Hutchins2013-12-23T16:16:24-05:002013-12-23T16:16:24-05:00Slow down: UF not hiring OC until '14, per reports
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<figcaption>Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Rejoice! You will be able to whine about the unknown instead of the known with your family this holiday season!</p> <p><i>The Gainesville Sun</i>'s Pat Dooley reports that Florida will not hire its offensive coordinator until after January 1.</p>
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<p>Everyone can relax and enjoy holidays. Florida oc won't be hired til after jan 1 and nobody has been offered per multiple sources</p>— Pat Dooley (@pat_dooley) <a href="https://twitter.com/pat_dooley/statuses/415225888415182848">December 23, 2013</a>
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<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>Additionally, Dooley and Associated Press reporter Mark Long both report that Will Muschamp hasn't offered the job to anyone just yet.</p>
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<p>Even with Duke OC Kurt Roper visiting today, Gators coach Will Muschamp has NOT offered job to anyone -- at least not yet</p>— Mark Long (@APMarkLong) <a href="https://twitter.com/APMarkLong/statuses/415221203000107008">December 23, 2013</a>
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<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>Why? Well, Long sums up the reasoning succinctly:</p>
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<p>This is the most important hire in Gators coach Will Muschamp's career. He's going to interview numerous guys before making decision</p>— Mark Long (@APMarkLong) <a href="https://twitter.com/APMarkLong/statuses/415226155353255936">December 23, 2013</a>
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<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>Duke offensive coordinator Kurt Roper was in Gainesville with Muschamp today, according to <a href="https://twitter.com/RagjUF/status/415165881027551232">Gator Country's Richard Johnson</a>. Roper appeared to be the front-runner for the position as of, oh, noon, because of a lack of other plausible candidates, as USC offensive coordinator/interim head coach Clay Helton <a href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/12/23/5239052/clay-helton-florida-gators-offensive-coordinator-search" target="new">all but bowed out of the race this weekend</a>.</p>
<p>But the more likely takeaway from Roper's day in Gainesville is that he is one of a number of candidates that have been (and will be) interviewed during Muschamp's vetting process. That's sure to rankle Florida fans who would've liked to have a coordinator in place, especially with prized commits like Dalvin Cook and Ermon Lane twisting in the wind, but it seems that Muschamp is less worried about making a swift hire than making the right one.</p>
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https://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/12/23/5239668/reports-florida-offensive-coordinator-hire-not-coming-until-afterAndy Hutchins2013-12-23T13:34:15-05:002013-12-23T13:34:15-05:00OC search: On Clay Helton, and being "the guy"
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<figcaption>Ethan Miller</figcaption>
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<p>Everything about Florida's offensive coordinator search pointed to USC offensive coordinator Clay Helton as the Gators' primary target as of Friday. On Saturday, that all changed.</p> <p>One by one, the potential Florida offensive coordinators removed themselves from the running to design the Gators' attack, until, as of Saturday, USC offensive coordinator and interim head coach Clay Helton looked like Will Muschamp's man.</p>
<p>Most of <a href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/12/6/5182786/florida-gators-offensive-coordinator-candidates-list" target="new">the other guys on the list</a> got better jobs, better-fitting jobs, or raises — possibly leveraged with Florida's interest. North Carolina offensive coordinator Blake Anderson <a href="http://coachingsearch.com/article?a=Arkansas-State-makes-a-statement-with-Blake-Andersons-contract" target="new">will now be Arkansas State's head coach</a>. Mike Norvell, Arizona State's hotshot offensive coordinator, got <a href="http://www.houseofsparky.com/2013/12/18/5223792/asu-football-mike-norvell-promoted-to-deputy-head-coach" target="new">the title of Deputy Head Coach</a> and a raise. Former Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen accepted a job as <a href="http://www.blocku.com/2013/12/20/5230404/dave-christsensen-hired-as-new-oc-erickson-demoted-to-running-backs" target="new">Utah's offensive coordinator</a>. Texas A&M offensive coordinator Jake Spavital was <a href="http://www.goodbullhunting.com/2013/12/19/5227458/jake-spavital-to-offensive-coordinator-this-is-a-big-deal" target="new">elevated to play-caller</a>.</p>
<p>Others fell off the board for one reason or another. Noel Mazzone was kept in UCLA's fold by the retention of head coach Jim Mora Jr.; Kerwin Bell, Lane Kiffin, and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/87277/bobby-petrino">Bobby Petrino</a> were swiftly dismissed; Major Applewhite fell to the back of the pack while Texas agonized over and finally parted ways with <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/115256/mack-brown">Mack Brown</a>; Dana Holgorsen remained employed at West Virginia.</p>
<p>And no one made more sense, for circumstantial or logical reasons, than Clay Helton.</p>
<p>Helton was the guy with Gainesville and Florida roots like the ones that were touted when Muschamp was hired, as the son of former Florida player and coach Kim Helton. Helton was the guy with a name big enough to thrill Florida fans and recruits alike, especially with the pedigree of USC's offense and the excitement around the Trojans after the firing of Kiffin this fall. Helton was the guy with background as both a run-first coordinator and a spread coach, perfect for compromising between Muschamp's interest in controlling the ball and the line of scrimmage and the thirst of fans and players for a more exciting scheme. Helton was the last major name left on a list full of potential candidates that proved to be just out of Florida's grasp for one reason or another. And Helton was the guy whose elevation to interim head coach at USC on December 2 was followed one day later by <a href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/12/3/5170882/florida-offensive-coordinator-search-timeline-bowl-season">multiple reports that Florida's OC search would extend past bowl season</a>.</p>
<p>Helton was <i>the guy</i>. It made so much sense.</p>
<p>And then he wasn't.</p>
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<p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23USC&src=hash">#USC</a> will announce after the game that Clay Helton has been retained as offensive coordinator</p>
— InsideUSC (@InsideUSC) <a href="https://twitter.com/InsideUSC/statuses/414526451342258176">December 21, 2013</a>
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<p>This news came at halftime of the 2013 Las Vegas Bowl — with the score USC 35, Fresno State 6, and Helton's offense just finished with an I-need-a-cigarette thrashing of the Bulldogs' defense for 30 minutes — and it sent Florida fans reeling. We clung to <a href="https://twitter.com/InsideUSC/status/414528634825629697">a modification of that report</a>, and to <a href="https://twitter.com/InsideUSC/status/414589160700116992">Helton no-commenting questions about Florida</a>, and the fact that <a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-clay-helton-to-stay-at-usc-20131221,0,4335664.story#axzz2o9tZUL00" target="new">a subsequent <i>Los Angeles Times</i> report</a> is rather flimsy in its sourcing.</p>
<p>For my money, these reports about USC keeping Helton sound like they've come directly from incoming head coach Steve Sarkisian and/or athletic director Pat Haden — and I think that, if that's true, it's possible, if unlikely, that they're mostly letting Helton know that he is coveted in Troy.</p>
<p>But that's mostly bargaining and wishful thinking. With the orange and blue lenses removed, it makes plenty of sense for Helton to stay in Los Angeles. He knows he can be successful at USC, and knows that talent well, while Florida's been managing a Superfund site on offense for four years. USC pays him well, and can at least stay in Florida's ballpark when it comes to salaries and perks. His mobility — he'll be a head coach before long, almost assuredly — doesn't suffer for being at USC, and any potential increase in mobility from the Florida OC seat is marginal. And he's been in L.A. for four years — roots in Gainesville are nice, but setting down roots with a family is probably more important.</p>
<p>Helton's now mostly given way to Duke co-offensive coordinator Kurt Roper as the Gators' new front-runner, and Roper <a href="https://twitter.com/RagjUF/status/415165881027551232" target="new">being on campus</a> certainly helps his standing in the race. Florida fans may go through the same multi-step process of acclimating to Roper that they did with Helton — Roper potentially coming from Duke like some guy named Spurrier once did is a nice stand-in for Helton's Gators heritage, as narrative pegs go.</p>
<p>But there's one thing the process of making a front-runner out of Helton and watching his horse fade down the stretch should make clear.</p>
<p>In college football, no one is the guy until he <i>is</i> the guy.</p>
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https://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/12/23/5239052/clay-helton-florida-gators-offensive-coordinator-searchAndy Hutchins