Kurt Roper to bring Florida’s offense into 21st Century

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With quarterback Jeff Driskel set to return from a broken leg and a new offensive coordinator in place, Florida is hoping going out of the shotgun makes its offense more dynamic than it was in 2013.

That won’t exactly be difficult — the Gators’ 4.79 yards per play average last fall ranked 110 out of 125 FBS teams — but for Will Muschamp to keep his job, the offense has to make a significant improvement. Offensive coordinator Kurt Roper is hoping a step toward that improvement is getting Driskel into more shotgun formations, in which he can be more effective as a dual-threat quarterback.

“I think he’s more comfortable in the gun,” Muschamp said, via the Orlando Sentinel’s Edgar Thompson. “A lot of the reason why we went to this was because of Jeff and as we move forward at the quarterback position.”

Thompson throws in some pretty damning stats about Driskel going under center or out of the shotgun that don’t exactly make ex-offensive coordinator Brent Pease look good. But Roper brings with him to Gainesville a more modern offense, and that — along with avoiding another year of brutal injury luck — could wind up turning things around for Florida.