David Ziegler (born September 7, 1977) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

executive who currently serves as an assistant general manager for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He began his career as a scout for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

in the early 2010s before becoming a senior personnel executive for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. Ziegler also worked two seasons as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

in the early 2020s.

Early life

A native of

Tallmadge, Ohio Tallmadge ( ) is a city in eastern Summit County, Ohio, Summit County, Ohio, United States, with a small district in neighboring Portage County, Ohio, Portage County. It is a suburb of Akron, Ohio, Akron and part of the Akron metropolitan area. T ...

, Ziegler played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

John Carroll University John Carroll University (JCU) is a Private university, private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio, United States. Located in a suburb of Cleveland, it is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts college, liberal arts institution compo ...

as a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

and

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punt (gridiron football), punts and kickoff (gridiron football), kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusivel ...

. from 1997 to 2000. He was a three-time First Team All-

Ohio Athletic Conference The Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. All member institutions are located in Ohio. Formed in 1902, it is the third oldest athletic conference in the United States ...

selection a kick and punt returner. He set school records for career punt return average (16.9), kick return average (34.4), punt return touchdowns (3), and kick return touchdowns (4). He was teammates with

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

' general manager

Nick Caserio Nicholas Caserio (born December 27, 1975) is an American professional football executive who is the executive vice president and general manager of the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). Caserio began his NFL career as a coach ...

, former Las Vegas Raiders and Denver Broncos head coach

Josh McDaniels Joshua Thomas McDaniels (born April 22, 1976) is an American professional football coach who is the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He has served as the offensive coordinator of the Patrio ...

, and NFL assistant coach Jerry Schuplinski.

Coaching

After graduating from JCU in 2000, Ziegler worked as a teacher in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. He returned to John Carroll in 2004 as a graduate assistant. After two seasons, Ziegler became the wide receivers and special teams at Iona College. While at Iona, Ziegler supplemented his income by working as an

extra Extra, Xtra, or The Extra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * The Extra (1962 film), ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * The Extra (2005 film), ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * Extra (newspaper), ...

in television shows. In 2007, Ziegler joined the faculty at Chaparral High School as a guidance counselor and assistant football coach.

Executive career

Denver Broncos

In 2010, Ziegler's former college roommate, Josh McDaniels, was named head coach of the

and brought Ziegler on as a player personnel assistant. He was promoted to area scout in 2011 and to pro scout in 2012.

New England Patriots

In 2013, Ziegler was hired by the

as their assistant director of pro scouting, a position he held until 2015. In 2016, he was promoted to director of pro personnel. In 2020, Ziegler was promoted to assistant director of player personnel. In 2021, he was promoted to director of player personnel, replacing Nick Caserio following his departure to become the general manager of the

Las Vegas Raiders

On January 30, 2022, Ziegler was named the general manager of the

. On October 31, 2023, he was fired by the Raiders.

New Orleans Saints

On February 26, 2024, the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

hired Ziegler to serve as an advisor to the team through the

2024 NFL draft The 2024 NFL draft was the 89th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza in Detroit on April 25–27, 2024. The draft had an attendanc ...

. On July 24, Ziegler was hired by New Orleans full–time as a personnel advisor.

Tennessee Titans

On January 26, 2025, the

hired Ziegler as their assistant general manager, under newly-hired, first-time general manager Mike Borgonzi.

Personal life

Ziegler and his wife have three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziegler, Dave 1977 births Living people American football wide receivers Denver Broncos scouts High school football coaches in Arizona Iona Gaels football coaches John Carroll Blue Streaks football coaches John Carroll Blue Streaks football players Las Vegas Raiders executives NFL general managers New England Patriots executives New England Patriots scouts People from Tallmadge, Ohio