New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick spoke about a notable personnel change on Monday. In a wide-ranging session with the media, Belichick touched on what newly-promoted director of player personnel Matt Groh means to the organization.
Groh spent last season as a college scouting director for the Patriots. He joined the organization in 2011 as a scouting assistant, and will now take over the role previously held by Dave Ziegler.
“Matt’s done a tremendous job for us. Very smart, very detailed. Obviously has a great football background with his dad, his family, growing up in football. Scouted multiple areas for us,” Belichick said Modnay via Matt Dolloff of 98.5 The Sports Hub. “He’s had multiple responsibilities, from area scouts on the west coast, to the southeast. Regional scout, national scout, and really put the draft together last year as the director of college scouting.
“With Dave [Ziegler] leaving, I feel like he’s the best person to step into the personnel job, and he’s done a great job. He’s as good as anybody we’ve had in that position.”
Ziegler left for Las Vegas to take on the general manager job with the Raiders. He was part of the group that left with Josh McDaniels, as the latter assumed the head coaching position for Las Vegas at the end of January.
Groh’s father Al most recently served as Georgia Tech defensive coordinator from 2010 t 2012. He also worked on the New England Patriots staff as the defensive coordinator/linebackers coach from 1993 to 1996.
Groh steps into the role having scouted the last two NFL combines for the Patriots. With the draft a little more than a month away, Groh could have a big part in the draft for the second year in a row.
