Will Muschamp updates Kurt Roper’s status at South Carolina
South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp expects Kurt Roper to be the Gamecocks offensive coordinator for the Outback Bowl.
“Sure,” Muschamp said Sunday night when asked to update the status of his top offensive assistant.
There have been some questions about that recently because Roper’s name has been connected to the open head coaching position at Rice, his alma mater, on top of South Carolina’s continued struggles on offense this season.
“He’s our offensive coordinator,” Muschamp said. “I’m not going to get into speculation and sources said and business like that. Right now, he’s our offensive coordinator and that’s all I know.”
That and that he expects Roper to call the plays for the Gamecocks (8-4) on Jan. 1 when they face Michigan in the Outback Bowl.
“That’s the plan,” Muschamp said.
Roper is in his second season as South Carolina’s offensive coordinator. The Gamecocks finished the regular season 12th in the SEC in scoring (24.1 ppg) and total yards (340.2 ypg). Last year, South Carolina was last in the SEC in scoring (20.8 ppg) and next-to-last in total offense (347.5 ypg).
“We need to be more productive offensively,” Muschamp said Sunday when asked to evaluate Roper’s performance. “There’s no doubt about that, and that’s the first thing he would tell you as well.”
Roper and Muschamp also teamed up for Muschamp’s last season as head coach at Florida. The Gators finished that season 12th in the SEC in total offense (367.6) and eighth in scoring (30.3 ppg).
“You evaluate your entire program and all three phases from a football standpoint,” Muschamp said. “It’s a constant evaluation about what we need to do to continue to get better. That’s what I’m going through right now with our entire organization, along with recruiting and a lot of other things going on.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2017 at 6:08 PM with the headline "Will Muschamp updates Kurt Roper’s status at South Carolina."