For Cavaliers' Father-Son Duo, Coaching Is Strictly Business

Mike admitted it's difficult sometimes to separate the two, but after six seasons of living both as father-son and boss-employee, they've figured out how to draw the line and stick to it. Mike was an offensive assistant under his father in New York.

"When Michael's over at the house, Michael is Michael," said Matt Groh, Mike's younger brother and a law student at Virginia. "When Michael's in the office, then it's his superior. As far as their relationship, it hasn't changed as far as father-son. When it's relax time, it's relax time. When it's time to be in the office, they get their work done."

Having a father as a coach shaped Mike his entire life. He starred in high school and earned a scholarship as quarterback at Virginia, his father's alma mater. He set school passing records and had a tryout with the Baltimore Ravens after graduating in 1995, but his playing career ended after he spent the 1997 season with the Rhein Fire of the World League.

He took a job as a stockbroker with Davenport & Company LLC in Richmond, and he enjoyed it for a few years, but he missed athletic competition. In football, he always played better in games than practice. In school, learning was secondary to his desire to earn good grades. If he and Matt played home run derby in the backyard, he never let his little brother win, no matter that he was eight years older. He shouted at Matt during video game matches.

Working as a stockbroker, "sitting in front of a computer and staring at little numbers all day long," failed to hold Mike's interest or satisfy his need for seeing results. In all those numbers on his computer screen, he couldn't find any W's or L's.

He picked up his phone one day and dialed his father.

"Dad, everything I've been able to accomplish is because of competition and leadership," Mike told him. "And I need to get back to where I'm using those things more often."

He needed to coach. He remembered watching his father coach football teams as a boy, being pulled out of school early to go to games or on recruiting trips. He wanted that feeling again.

"It gets in your blood," Mike said. "And being part of a team gets in your blood, and that's what's so good about this gig."

Mike and Matt hung around their father a lot growing up. Being around while their father schemed plays or screamed at players gave the boys a glimpse into who their father was. Al Groh didn't change the way he coached or acted because his kids were around.

"I just had to be who I was," Al Groh said. "It's very gratifying to me -- for good, bad or indifferent -- that both of them, they know pretty well who their father is. His strong points, his weak points, what he likes, what he doesn't like. I like that a lot. I like that more than that they know that he's got a certain kind of car or whatever. They know who this guy is."

And starting Saturday night, Cavaliers fans will know who Mike Groh is, more than they have before. Having the last name Groh will place more pressure on him than if he were coaching under someone else, but that suits him fine.

"There's nothing I haven't known Michael to face and not excel at," Matt Groh said.