Following his time with the Patriots, he served as an executive with the Texans and Dolphins.
Grier’s sons, Chris and Mike, have carried on his legacy in professional sports as general managers for the Miami Dolphins (Chris) and the San Jose Sharks (Mike).
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Bobby Grier, father of general manager Chris Grier,” the Dolphins said in a brief statement posted to Twitter. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Grier family.”
After a four-year career playing running back at Iowa, Grier became a high school football coach in Michigan in 1966. He transitioned to the college ranks in 1974, coaching at Eastern Michigan before taking a job coaching running backs at Boston College from 1978-80. He was BC’s first full-time Black assistant coach.
He accepted a role with the Patriots in 1981 as the team’s offensive backfield coach, and after the team went 2-14 that season, the entire coaching staff was fired. He rejoined the Patriots as a scout in 1982 and later returned to his previous coaching role in 1985 — the year the Patriots running backs rushed for 2,331 yards and the team made its first Super Bowl.
When Bill Parcells took over as coach in 1993, he moved Grier to the personnel department as the Patriots’ director of pro scouting, and in 1995, Grier was promoted to director of player personnel.
Grier left the Patriots after the 2000 NFL Draft — the first under former coach Bill Belichick.
In May of that year, he joined the Texans, where he worked as associate director of pro scouting and senior personnel advisor until his retirement in 2016.
When his son, Chris, was named GM of the Dolphins in 2016, Grier joined Miami as a consultant.