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Kurt Roper will seek to revive a Florida offense that was 13th in the SEC last year in yards per game. (Associated Press)

Florida head coach Will Muschamp hired Kurt Roper as his new offensive coordinator to add some life to a Gators offense that was 13th in the SEC last year in yardage.

Roper has been known for a wide-open style in leading Duke's offense that was fourth in the ACC in yards per game, and much of the talk this summer out of Gainesville has been about the predominance of snaps in the shotgun.

"It's an exciting time to be an offensive player for the Gators," Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel said at SEC Media Days earlier this month.

Duke head coach David Cutcliffe called Roper, who has coached with him since 1996, "an incredibly gifted, intelligent football coach," but he also said there's another attribute that'll be the most notable change in a Roper-led Gators offense.

"He is a hard-nosed tough guy," Cutcliffe told Tony Barnhart this week on Paul Finebaum's radio show. "The Gators will be tougher."

That and Roper's "outstanding" organizational skills will guarantee improvement in Florida's offense, Cutcliffe said.

"He is going to have them practicing with great habits," he said. "There's no question -- no question -- that Florida will be a better team on offense for Kurt Roper, because they're going to do it well every single day and every single practice."