Patriots choose Matt Groh to replace Dave Ziegler as director of player personnel

Related: How will the Patriots replace departed director of player personnel Dave Ziegler?

The New England Patriots took their time replacing Nick Caserio last offseason. They navigated free agency and the draft by leaning on a group effort by multiple front office personnel before officially naming Dave Ziegler the teams director of player personnel before training camp.

In 2022, the team isn’t waisting any time, announcing that Matt Groh has been named the organization’s next director of player personnel via their official website.

Groh, son of former Patriots assistant Al Groh, originally entered the NFL as a scouting assistant for the club in 2011. He spent two seasons in that role before eventually becoming an area and national scout for the team throughout their second dynastic run in the 2010’s. Following the departure of Nick Caserio in 2020, Groh became college scouting director before his eventual promotion.

Seemingly on the shortlist of candidates to replace Ziegler, Groh was one of the four front office personnel alongside Ziegler, Eliot Wolf, and head coach/defacto general manager Bill Belichick to have a heavy hand in developing the Patriots 2021 offseason plan. New England will now look to fill the college scouting director position as a result of his promotion.

The entirety of Groh’s career has been spent focused on the college ranks as a scout and eventually director of all college scouting. That contrasts Ziegler’s background, who mostly worked with pro personnel in New England. Eliot Wolf, Steve Cargile, and Matt Patricia are all expected to continue serving in the roles that they were placed in prior to last season.