Bobby Grier, long-time Patriots executive and father of Dolphins GM Chris, dead at 82
Bobby Grier, a long-time New England Patriots executive with over seven decades of experience in football, died Monday, the Miami Dolphins confirmed. He was 82.
Grier was working as a consultant with the Dolphins. His son Chris is the team's general manager.
We are deeply saddened by the passing of Bobby Grier, father of general manager Chris Grier. Bobby was a longtime executive for the Patriots and Texans and a former consultant for the Dolphins.
- Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) September 22, 2025
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Grier family. pic.twitter.com/5J699e11Jf
Bobby Grier's legacy in the game stretches back to at least 1961, when he was a running back at Iowa. He started coaching high school football in 1966, and slowly climbed the coaching ranks. In 1974, he joined the college ranks, serving as a running backs coach at Eastern Michigan. A few years later, he left for Boston College.
Grier eventually made his way to the NFL, joining the Patriots as an assistant coach in 1981. The team fired the entire coaching staff after the season, but Grier was brought back on the staff as a scout. He remained with the organization through the 2000 season, working in a variety of roles on the coaching staff and in the front office. Grier served as a backfield coach and running coordinator early in that tenure before eventually working his way up the front office.
He became the team's director of pro scouting in 1993, and then was named the director of player personnel in 1995. Two years later, Grier was named the vice president of player personnel with the Patriots. He held that role until 2000, when he left to join the Houston Texans.
Grier worked as the associate director of pro scouting and a senior personnel advisor with the Texans. He joined the Dolphins in 2017, a year after his son Chris was named the team's general manager.
Bobby's other son, Mike, also has a background in sports. After playing in the NHL, Mike was named the general manager of the San Jose Sharks in 2022. He's the first Black general manager in NHL history.
Though Bobby left the Patriots before the team began its dynasty, he's credited with bringing in some of the talented players who would go on to star for the Patriots during that period. Bobby was also credited by former Texans coordinator Wade Phillips as being instrumental to the team taking J.J. Watt in the 2011 NFL Draft.