Following Dave Ziegler’s Exit, New England Patriots Promote Matt Groh To Director Of Player Personnel

Two weeks after Dave Ziegler departed to become the next general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders, the New England Patriots have named his successor.

On Tuesday, the organization announced the promotion of Matt Groh to director of player personnel, the highest-ranked position under head coach Bill Belichick.

Groh, now entering his 12th season with New England, served as the team’s college scouting director in 2021. Prior to then, he spent two seasons as a national scout, six seasons as an area scout and two seasons as a scouting assistant dating back to 2011.

The Patriots’ upcoming calendar will mark the third in a row with a different director of player personnel. Ziegler, recently introduced in Las Vegas with head coach Josh McDaniels, had been elevated from assistant director of player personnel last January after arriving in 2013. That move coincided with Nick Caserio, who held the title for the previous 13 campaigns, being hired as the general manager of the Houston Texans.

Second-in-command now is in the hands of Groh.

As shared by ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Groh led the Patriots contingent at the Reese’s Senior Bowl alongside scouting consultant Eliot Wolf, who interviewed for the GM vacancies of the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings earlier in the offseason. Both were viewed as New England’s top in-house candidates amid the personnel department’s turnover.

It is a department that renovated its draft process to involve more voices in 2021. Through the collaboration, rookie hits followed with quarterback Mac Jones in the first round at No. 15 overall, defensive tackle Christian Barmore in the second round at No. 38 overall and running back Rhamondre Stevenson in the fourth round at No. 120 overall.

As did a 10-7 regular season that led to an AFC wild-card playoff berth and Belichick earning NFL Executive of the Year honors from the Pro Football Writers of America for the first time.

“Dave Ziegler, Eliot Wolf and Matt Groh have really carried the ball on this,” Belichick, New England’s de facto general manager, said of the war room during his pre-draft press conference last April. “They’ve done a ton of work and their respective staffs that they oversee, as well. In particular, those three guys have really done a tremendous amount work, evaluation, organization and have done a great job putting things together. It’s been great to spend a lot of time with them and go through the process.”

Groh played quarterback at Princeton and graduated in 2003. He later earned a law degree from Virginia in 2008.

The Hingham, Mass., native is the son of former Patriots defensive coordinator Al Groh, who also worked with Belichick as an assistant on the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and New York Jets before twice receiving ACC Coach of the Year recognition at Virginia. His older brother, Mike Groh, was hired as the Giants’ wide receivers coach this February after holding the same position with the Indianapolis Colts.