College Throughout his career, Groh has been a friend and protégé of
Bill Parcells, working with him for over 13 years in both collegiate and professional positions. Groh was an assistant under Parcells in two Super Bowls, including a 1990
Super Bowl XXV victory with the
New York Giants and a 1996 loss in
Super Bowl XXXI with the
New England Patriots. Groh began his college coaching career in 1968 as the defensive coach of the plebe squad at
Army, working with Parcells for his first time under head coach
Tom Cahill. Groh returned to Virginia in 1970 as head coach of the freshmen team and later defensive line coach. From 1973 through 1977, he was an assistant at
North Carolina, followed by a year (1978) as Parcells'
defensive coordinator at
Air Force and a year at
Texas Tech in 1980. Groh received his first head football coach experience with
Wake Forest from 1981 through 1986 where his record was 26–40.
NFL In 1987, Groh made his NFL debut as the special teams and tight ends coach of the
Atlanta Falcons. After a brief return to the college ranks in 1988 as the
offensive coordinator for
South Carolina, Groh joined the
New York Giants coaching staff. He served as the Giants' linebackers coach from 1989 to 1990 and as
defensive coordinator in 1991. Groh's expertise in
linebackers led to
Bill Belichick hiring him as an assistant with the
Cleveland Browns in 1992. Groh then reunited with Parcells in New England from 1993 to 1996 as the defensive coordinator, following him to the
New York Jets as the linebacker coach from 1997 through 1999. Groh served as head coach of the New York Jets for the
2000 season, taking over after the intended successor to
Bill Parcells,
Bill Belichick, quickly resigned. Groh had been approached for the coaching job at
Princeton University (which had his son Matthew as quarterback) and rejected it just before he was asked to the take the Jets job. His son Mike served as an assistant coach with him. Groh engineered the trade of wide receiver
Keyshawn Johnson before the draft. The
Jets won five of their first six games, which included the "
Monday Night Miracle", a 40–37 victory where the Jets scored thirty points in the 4th quarter. However, the Jets, with nine wins in their first 13 games, lost three straight games to close out the season in which they needed just one victory to reach the playoffs. Quarterback
Vinny Testaverde stated the grueling practices run by Groh had the team run of gas by the end, and other players (such as Pro Bowl center
Kevin Mawae) disliked playing for him. Five days after the season ended, with permission from Parcells, he interviewed with the
University of Virginia. On December 31, he resigned from the Jets to take the job at his alma mater at the University of Virginia.
Virginia Cavaliers Groh was named the head coach of the
Virginia Cavaliers football team on December 30, 2000, succeeding
George Welsh, who retired as the winningest coach in school and
Atlantic Coast Conference history. At Virginia, Groh became known for his implementing a
3-4 defense, rare for college football; and for maintaining his NFL mentality. After a 5–7 record in 2001, Groh led Virginia to four consecutive winning seasons and three bowl victories before another 5–7 campaign in 2006. He was named the ACC Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2007. Groh's first year as Virginia's head coach contained struggles both on and off the field. The 2001 Cavalier team posted a 5–7 record, and Groh, a native of New York City and
Long Island, was involved in controversy surrounding comments regarding the
September 11, 2001 attacks in his hometown. In response to a reporter's question about whether he and his team should be afraid to fly their charter plane to
Clemson soon thereafter, Groh stated "I'm not saying this to make light of it by any means, but I'm not planning on having Arabs in the traveling party, so therefore I think probably that the threat of our plane being hijacked is pretty remote". Both Groh and the president of the university,
John T. Casteen III, apologized and recognized the inappropriateness of the remarks. Subsequent to the 2001 season, Groh was selected as the defensive head coach of the Gray team in the 64th Annual
Blue–Gray Football Classic;
Al Golden joined Groh on the Gray team's coaching staff. During Groh's second year as head coach, Virginia amassed a 9–5 record with a schedule ranked the 11th toughest in the nation by
Jeff Sagarin of
USA Today, and Groh was voted the ACC Coach of the Year. The
2006 Cavaliers were a young team with several new assistant coaches. The team experienced some growing pains, and a few games into the season, freshman
Jameel Sewell earned the starting quarterback position, leading Virginia to a 5–7 season record. No Cavalier player made first team All-ACC team for the first time in 20 years. While Groh acknowledged that the year would be a rebuilding experience and a slow start upset some fans, Virginia
athletic director Craig Littlepage stated that, "Al will be our head coach" through at least the 2007 season. Littlepage, however, later refused to exercise an option to extend Groh's contract by one year stating that Virginia's expectations were higher than 5–7. Unlike past seasons, Groh only played one true freshman in 2006, which preserved the
redshirt of true freshman. In the
2007 Virginia Cavaliers preseason, Groh was listed among the five worst coaches in college football by
Sports Illustrated columnist
Stewart Mandel. However, after Groh's 2007 Cavaliers lost their first game at Wyoming, they won their next seven games and started 4–0 in the ACC. After Virginia won their ninth game of 2007, Stewart Mandel stated "there's no question he's gotten every ounce out of that team", and revisited his preseason column by stating "I ended up going with Groh, and obviously he's the one who's most proven it wrong". The team finished the regular season 9–3 overall and 6–2 in the ACC, leading to the Cavaliers' fifth bowl game in the past six seasons. Subsequent to the regular season, Groh was voted the 2007 ACC Coach of the Year by the ACC Media Association. After leading the
2008 Virginia Cavaliers to a 1–3 start, including a 31–3 loss to a
Duke team who had not won an ACC game in its previous 25 attempts, Groh was once again under pressure to resign. However, Virginia quickly turned the season around, reeling off 4 straight wins with the emergence of
Marc Verica and the efforts of
Cedric Peerman. It wasn't until the November 1 homecoming game against the
2008 Miami Hurricanes at Charlottesville that Virginia lost in overtime, ending Virginia's winning streak and knocking them out of the top spot in the
ACC Coastal Division. They subsequently lost to
Wake Forest,
Clemson and
Virginia Tech. This marks the fifth straight loss to the Hokies. They last beat Virginia Tech in 2003, their only win against the team under Groh. Virginia's final standings for 2008 was 5–7 and 3–5 in the ACC. Groh and his
2009 Virginia Cavaliers team opened the 2009 season with a shocking home loss to
William & Mary of the FCS (formerly I-AA). Groh's decision to field three quarterbacks in a spread offense for the game led to a record-tying seven turnovers for the Cavaliers. The loss was the first by Virginia to a I-AA team since 1986, which also came at the hands of William & Mary. The embarrassment of the loss coupled with fears of another losing season once again rekindled calls for Groh's ouster as Virginia head coach from many fans and analysts. Following the William & Mary loss, the Cavaliers fell to TCU in Charlottesville and then Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Following a bye week, Groh's Virginia team rebounded and reeled off three straight wins, including two road ACC wins (North Carolina and Maryland) and a blow-out over the Big Ten's Indiana. However, after the three straight wins, Virginia reeled off 6 straight losses to close the season. Following a loss to Virginia Tech in the last game of the season, the University of Virginia fired Groh. He left as the second-winningest coach in Virginia history.
Georgia Tech On January 15, 2010, it was announced that Groh would be taking the position of defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech for the 2010 season, and coached there through the Yellow Jackets' loss to
Clemson on October 6, 2012. He was relieved of his duties on October 8, 2012. ==Legacy==