The following is the fourth of 10 stories featuring Bears coordinators and position coaches.
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| Mike Groh hopes to have the same type of success in the NFL that he enjoyed at the collegiate level. |
Bears first-year receivers coach Mike Groh hopes to have the same type of success in the NFL that he enjoyed at the collegiate level the past few years.
Groh helped the University of Alabama win three national championships in four seasons, serving as an offensive graduate assistant in 2009 and receivers coach/recruiting coordinator in 2011-12.
Last season under Groh's direction, Alabama receiver Amari Cooper was named to the freshman All-American team after catching 59 passes for 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns.
As a player, Groh was a two-year starting quarterback at Virginia in 1994-95 and is the only signal-caller in school history to lead the Cavaliers to nine wins and a bowl victory in back-to-back seasons.
Groh began his coaching career in 2000 as an assistant with the New York Jets on the staff of his father, Al. He then returned to Virginia the following year as an assistant for his dad, coaching receivers in 2001-02, working with receivers and quarterbacks in 2003, and tutoring quarterbacks in 2004-05. Groh was then promoted to offensive coordinator, a role he held from 2006-08.
Groh worked at Alabama for one season and coached quarterbacks at Louisville in 2010 before returning to the Crimson Tide in 2011.
In his final game as a prep star at Randolph High School in New Jersey, Groh kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired in the state championship game, giving his team a 22-21 win. It was the school's 49th straight win and fifth consecutive state title.
Groh's kick came after one of his teammates had called a fair catch of a short punt with :01 remaining. A local newspaper dubbed the contest "the greatest high school game ever played."
