Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis is going big again. The Raiders announced Sunday that they have hired Patriots player personnel director Dave Ziegler as their next general manager. As PFN Insider Aaron Wilson telegraphed late last week, Ziegler is bringing Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels with him as the Raiders’ next head coach.
Get to know new Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler
Ziegler, 44, will replace Mike Mayock, whom Davis fired following Las Vegas’ playoff loss. Ziegler was one of five known candidates for the job. The others were Bengals scout Trey Brown, Bears assistant director of player personnel Champ Kelly, Steelers pro scouting coordinator Brandon Hunt, and former Titans general manager Ruston Webster. Ziegler was up for the Broncos’ GM job in 2021 but elected to remain in New England.
Ziegler’s football background
Ziegler is the latest branch of the Bill Belichick coaching and personnel tree. But his ties to McDaniels far predate his time in New England. A Northeast Ohio native, Ziegler was McDaniels’ college teammate at John Carroll University, which inducted Ziegler — a wide receiver/returner — into its Hall of Fame in 2010. Texans general manager Nick Caserio and Giants quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski were also on that team.
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Ziegler then went into coaching, with stops at a high school and two small colleges (including his alma mater) before getting his big NFL break. McDaniels and the Broncos asked Ziegler to join their personnel department. And for the next three years, he learned the NFL scouting trade. After McDaniels was fired, he ultimately ended up back in New England (following a one-year layover in St. Louis). Ziegler followed him again, joining the Patriots as their assistant director of pro scouting. He did that for three years before getting promoted to the director of pro personnel. Ziegler spent the past two years in New England’s player personnel department, first as an assistant and then as the director in 2021.
How Ziegler performed in 2021
In his final role with the Patriots, Ziegler served as Belichick’s de facto general manager. Additionally, he had a large say in the splash moves they made to transform their roster. The Patriots went out of character in 2021, spending $160 million-plus in free-agent guarantees. They also drafted a quarterback (Mac Jones) in the first round for the first time in decades. Those gambles paid off with a 10-7 record and a playoff appearance.
Ziegler on his role with the Patriots
“It’s been fun, and it’s been challenging. It’s been a new level of having to be ultra-organized, prioritize tasks, and be involved on just a greater scope with more people in the organization, which has been fun.
“Luckily for me, the support here within the scouting department from people like Brian Smith and Steve Cargile, Eliot Wolf — I could keep naming people, but we have so many good people here that offer support, that have experience, that it’s made the transition pretty seamless.” — Dave Ziegler, on being promoted to director of player personnel in 2021 to Patriots.com.
