WATCH: NC State OC Kurt Roper Breaks Down His Thoughts on Calling Plays in Week 1 (with transcript)

NC State Offensive Coordinator Kurt Roper met with the media yesterday after practice leading up to the Wolfpack’s game against UVA this Saturday. He shared his thoughts on calling plays from up in the booth, the speed in which CJ Bailey and Teddy Hoffmann produced at young ages and what he saw from UVA in Week 1 against Coastal Carolina.

This marks the first year Roper has served as NC State’s Offensive Coordinator, after serving as an Assistant Coach with the Wolfpack since 2019. He was previously an Offensive Coordinator at South Carolina (2016-17), Florida (2014) and Duke (2008-13).

You can watch the video ABOVE, and read the transcript BELOW.

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Your initial assessment after game one.

There’s always good and bad things to correct.

Things that you try to praise, and I think we made a lot of plays. We had some explosive plays. We made plays down the field, which was exciting to see.

Then we weren’t consistent enough in finishing the drive, whether that was a play call, a penalty or a lack of execution to stop the drive.

We just didn’t finish those drives. We all would have felt like we played a pretty complete game if we did that.

Turnover in there at the end of half is something that we’ve got to try to eliminate those things.

But I think you see we’ve got some talent, we’ve got some guys that are playmakers, and we did some positive things.

What was it like being up in the booth calling plays again? Were there are any nerves doing that for the first time in a while?

Yeah, I think you’re always excited and anxious.

You hear players talk about it all the time. As soon as the game starts, all that’s gone, because now your mind is in the moment at hand, right? But obviously, I was excited about the opportunity to call plays again. Thankful for that opportunity, but it’s not the first time.

So it wasn’t a new experience, but I’m glad to be doing it, fortunate to be doing it.

What are the biggest areas that you need to improve in the run game from week one to week two?

I think East Carolina did a lot of good things up front to make it challenging for our guys, and it was kind of a feast or famine game. We had some explosives and started off good, but it’s the consistency and staying off of edges, and me trying to put them into the best look for a run that I possibly can.

How did being upstairs change your communication with CJ (Bailey) in-game and making adjustments?

Really, I’m talking to him straight through his headset during the whole drive, so that communication is the same. The difference is obviously in between series, where we can’t sit down and see each other face to face.

Matt Symmes is doing that for me now, and he does a great job. Matt and I have been together since 2010 or 2011. So he knows we’re all on the same page with that, so Matt’s helping with those things. What you lose being in the box is the emotions of the game, the intensity of the game, the look in a player’s eyes. Is he feeling good right now? Is he not feeling good? Do I need to bring him back? Is it confidence? Is it correcting something? Those things you miss, but I learned from Cut (David Cutcliffe) a long time ago, you can just see so much better.

I haven’t called it from on the field. I’ve called scrimmages on the field, and you just don’t see as well. I don’t care what anybody says. You’re not going to see as well. The other things are the positives from being down on the field.

Is CJ’s progression as a quarterback a little quicker than maybe most in your estimation?

Yes, to answer your question, but even more than that, I think it was where he was when he got here, too. He’s played football at such a high level for so long. He was coached really well in a passing offense at a really competitive high school. An elite high school.

He came in pretty far along. I’ve said it a lot. There’s a lot of people that can throw a football. There’s not many that can pass a football, and passing the football incorporates 22 moving parts, a concept, a protection, a defensive coverage, a defensive pressure, and you’ve got to make a split decision in 2.8 seconds, and his brain does that. He sees that, and I’m fortunate to coach him.

We’ve heard a lot about Teddy Hoffmann this offseason, but seeing that jump for him in week 1, what were your thoughts on his play?

Well, it was impressive. The plays that he made, you can see how strong he is at the point of catch. His hands are really good.

I think he’s powerful. He can separate. He can change directions. But again, I go back to a guy that’s played high level football for a long time, been in a lot of competitive situations for a long time.

So while college football is different, the gameday didn’t shock him. It wasn’t too big for him.

Your first initial thoughts on Virginia. Was it interesting where you could see the game through the mindset of maybe Tim Beck a little bit?

Obviously, Tim has hired a new offense coordinator, so it’s a new system, so it’s not exactly what Tim did here that I was a part of. But those relationships help with communication and things.

I think they’re (UVA) really physical. I think they play hard. I think they’re heavy up front. I think they compete.

You look at what they were able to do in their first game, it shows you that they’ve got a talented football team.