Patriots Name Matt Groh as Director of Player Personnel

Groh will succeed Dave Ziegler, who left alongside former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to become the general manager and head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, respectively.

The New England Patriots wasted little time in finding a new head of their personnel department.

Just two days removed from Super Bowl LVI, the Patriots have named Matt Groh their next Director of Player Personnel. The team confirmed Groh’s promotion via a communication issued on Tuesday afternoon. Groh will succeed Dave Ziegler, who left alongside former Pats’ offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to become the general manager and head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, respectively.

Groh is entering his 12th year with the Patriots. He served as the team’s college scouting director in 2021, having spent the previous 10 years in New England's scouting department.

Undoubtedly, Groh enters this position with a great deal of familial football pedigree, He is the son of former NFL coach Al Groh, and brother of New York Giants wide receivers coach Mike Groh. Throughout his career, Al Groh worked closely with Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. He served as the Giants’ linebackers coach, while Belichick was the defensive coordinator. He later joined Belichick’s coaching staff when Belichick accepted the head coaching job in Cleveland. Belichick and the elder Groh also worked together as assistants under Bill Parcells, with both the Patriots and the New York Jets.

Matt Groh now becomes the Patriots third Director of Player Personnel in as many seasons. His predecessor, Ziegler, held the title for just one year in New England. However, like Groh, he had spent nearly a decade in the Patriots' system. Prior to Ziegler, Nick Caserio was director of player personnel for 13 seasons before becoming the Houston Texans general manager in 2021.

Groh’s new position will be a bit of a departure from his previous job duties, as his focus and expertise lies mostly within collegiate scouting. While some had considered Eliot Wolf (who currently serves as a Patriots scouting consultant, with experience in both college and pro level scouting) as a potentially better fit, Groh gets the nod as the Pats new top personnel man. As such, Wolf, as well as Steve Cargile, and Matt Patricia [who hold both scouting and advisory roles under Belichick] are all expected to continue on in their current positions.

For the Patriots, however, Groh’s promotion is hardly surprising, given his title. Previous directors of college scouting have gone on to success both with the Patriots, as well as other organizations. Monti Ossenfort, who is currently Tennessee's director of player personnel, held the title from 2014-2019. Titans’ general manager Jon Robinson was also the Patriots director of college scouting from 2009 to 2013. Former Atlanta Falcons’ GM Thomas Dimitroff (2008-2020) was also the Patriots' director of college scouting (2003-2007) before getting his promotion.

Groh is expected to hit the ground running, with both free agency and the 2022 NFL Draft rapidly approaching. His insight and influence helped to craft a stellar draft haul just one year ago. Quarterback Mac Jones, defensive tackle Christian Barmore and running back Rhamondre Stevenson were among the standouts of New England’s 2021 Draft class, which was ranked first in the NFL by Pro Football Focus.