NC State fires OC Robert Anae, promotes QB coach Kurt Roper to play-caller

After just two seasons as NC State’s offensive coordinator, Robert Anae has been relieved of his duties, Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren announced Monday afternoon. 

“I want to thank Robert and wish him and his family the best,” Doeren said in a statement. “I have great respect for him and appreciate the work he has done.”

Quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper will take over as the play caller, while offensive quality control coach Gavin Locklear was promoted to tight ends coach.

Anae, who signed a two-year extension in January, will be owed a $900,000 buyout, according to documents obtained by TheWolfpacker.com through a Freedom of Information Act request. He will be paid in monthly installments until the remainder of his contract is paid in full. 

The offensive coordinator, who was touted as “a master at taking the personnel he has and making it work” by coach Doeren when he was hired, struggled to find consistent success at NC State. 

Anae’s first run through with NC State featured two quarterback changes as former Virginia signal-caller Brennan Armstrong was benched after five starts before he returned to the lineup after MJ Morris redshirted following four starts. The Pack’s 2023 offense was later featured around then-freshman wide receiver Kevin “KC” Concepcion, who went on to win the ACC Rookie of the Year Award by the end of the season. 

NC State’s offense was the ninth-best scoring unit in the ACC during the 2023 campaign with 26.2 points a game. The Pack boasted the No. 10 rushing offense (156.5 yards) in the league, while the team’s pass game ranked 11th in the conference (193.9 yards) during Anae’s first season with the Wolfpack. 

The Pack was able to use the gap between Anae’s first and second seasons to bolster the offense, adding tight end Justin Joly (UConn), running back Jordan Waters (Duke), center Zeke Correll (Notre Dame) and wide receivers Noah Rogers (Ohio State) and Wesley Grimes (Wake Forest) to give him more to work with. But as the Wolfpack had more weapons at its disposal, the offense appeared to not take as much of a step forward as was expected. 

Anae’s unit ranked 10th overall in the ACC in scoring, while it had the No. 9 rushing attack and the 11th-best passing game in the conference as he worked with two quarterbacks, Grayson McCall and freshman CJ Bailey. 

Concepcion, the Wolfpack’s star wideout, seemed to take a step back in production as a sophomore. All of his statistics dropped in 2024, as he turned in just 53 receptions for 460 yards and six touchdowns. Concepcion transferred to Texas A&M after the regular season.

NC State’s offense struggled to close out games in 2024 with four one-possession losses, including in the team’s Military Bowl defeat to ECU, where Joly and Smothers went extended periods of time without a touch.

Now, Roper, who has been a coordinator at Duke (2008-13), Florida (2014) and South Carolina (2016-17) is tasked with continuing to grow the Wolfpack’s offense around Bailey and the rest of its young weapons.