Mike Groh

Mike Groh (born December 19, 1971) is an NFL coach and former football player, currently the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams. He is a former starting quarterback at the University of Virginia.

High school career

Groh attended Randolph High School in Randolph, New Jersey, graduating in 1991. He played football for the Randolph Rams, starting as the team's quarterback and placekicker.

In Groh's last game, Randolph faced off against Montclair High School on December 1, 1990 in the New Jersey North 2, Group 4 sectional championship game, which was held at Woodman Field in Montclair. Randolph had entered the game sharing a state record for consecutive victories with 48 while Montclair was the top ranked team in the state and fifth in the United States. With his team trailing 21-19 and driving late in the game, Randolph turned the ball over deep in Montclair territory. Montclair attempted to run the clock down as far as they could, with the idea that they would take a delay of game penalty and have approximately three seconds left to punt the ball. However, a clock error resulted in the scoreboard clock ticking to zero and caused the Montclair fans to rush the field in apparent victory. This not only resulted in a delay of game penalty being called on Montclair, but the officials determined the clock should have seven seconds left on it. After Montclair came up with an eleven-yard punt that was fair caught with a second left, Groh kicked the winning field goal as time expired to give Randolph its record breaking victory in what The Star-Ledger of Newark later named the greatest New Jersey high school game ever played.^[1][2]

College career

Groh enrolled at the University of Virginia in the fall of 1991 and was redshirted as a true freshman. He served as a backup quarterback during his redshirt freshman season in 1992 and replaced struggling starter Bobby Goodman in a late season game against N.C. State. However, in the 1993 season, Groh lost the quarterback competition to fellow redshirt sophomore Symmion Willis and again served as a backup. In the first game of the 1994 season against Clemson, Groh alternated with Willis when the offense struggled during a 6–3 win. Groh and Willis continued to alternate at quarterback for the next few games until Groh emerged as the starting quarterback. The Cavaliers finished 9–3 for the 1994 season with a win over Texas Christian University in the Independence Bowl. Groh led the Cavaliers to a 9–4 record in the 1995 season highlighted by a 33–28 win over Florida State and a win over Georgia in the Peach Bowl. His father is Al Groh the former head coach of football at Virginia.

Coaching career

Groh was hired as an assistant for his father Al, who was head coach of the New York Jets in 2000.^[2] Groh was hired on the Virginia staff in 2001 as the wide receivers coach before he took on the task of coaching the Cavalier quarterbacks in 2003 along with the receivers. Then in 2006, he was named the teams offensive coordinator. He was relieved of the offensive coordinator position at the University of Virginia in December 2008.^[3] Groh spent the 2009 season at Alabama as an offensive graduate assistant as the Crimson Tide recorded a 14–0 record en route to the National Championship. Louisville Cardinals head coach Charlie Strong announced, on January 13, 2010, that he has hired Mike Groh to coach the quarterbacks at University of Louisville. On February 7, 2011, it was announced he had been given the job of wide receivers coach at the University of Alabama.^[4] On February 21, 2013, it was announced that Groh was hired by the Chicago Bears as wide receivers coach.^[5] On January 25, 2016, the Los Angeles Rams announced they had hired Groh as their new passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach.

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