For the New England Patriots, 2025 was a year of change. From the coaching staff, to the roster, to the personnel department, almost every part of the organization was shaken up one way or another.
Among the positions to see some turnover was the role of pro scouting director. Patrick Stewart, who had succeeded Steve Cargile in 2024, left the club after only one season at the job. To replace him, the Patriots turned to a familiar name: A.J. Highsmith, the son of senior personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith.
But while it is easy to accuse the Patriots of nepotism with the hire, the elder Highsmith wants to let it be known that his son earned the job fair and square.
“Eliot [Wolf] asked me about, ‘Do you want to interview him?’ I probably would have said no a few years ago, but I think he’s earned his stripes,” Highsmith explained during a recent appearance on Scouting the League. “He’s done a hell of a job where he’s been, and I thought it was the right time. I said, ‘Yep, I’m good with it now.’
“He’s made his own way. I wanted him to succeed on his own. If by chance we ever worked together, he’s not working there because I’m his father. He’s working there because he earned his stripes, and nothing’s given, and much is expected. I think he’s passed all those tests for me.”
The younger Highsmith played quarterback and defensive back at the University of Miami, his father’s alma mater, from 2009 to 2013. He subsequently made the move to the NFL, but as an executive rather than a player: the 49ers hired him as a scouting assistant in 2014, and later promoted him to pro personnel scout.
After five seasons in San Francisco, Highsmith moved to Buffalo to work as a college area and a national scout. In 2024, the Titans hired him as their director of scouting. He lasted only one season in that position before being let go amid a sweeping front office overhaul.
It did not take long for the Patriots to bring him aboard, a move that united him with his father in a professional capacity for the first time.
“It’s been really special for me because me and my son have always had a great relationship,” Alonzo said. “It’s interesting because I never wanted to really work with my son. I wanted him to have his own career. I wanted him to make a name for himself. People used to always ask me all the time about A.J. I’d always say, ‘He’s doing fine, where he is.’ We’ve always communicated. It was always great seeing him at pro days or the Combine; we’d go to dinner. And I’m very proud of him for the person he’s become.
“I’ve never made my life about football. I never wanted him to make his life about football. I’ve always wanted to make his life about being a good human being, and a good teammate, and a good person. Those were the most important qualities to me for him going forward in his life.”
Joining forces has also allowed the pair to be together during one of the most challenging periods of their lives. In September 2025, six months after A.J. was hired by the Patriots, his mother and Alonzo’s wife of 35 years, Denise, passed away.
Living together in New England (but taking separate cars to work), the two have been able to support one another.
“Having him with me and being a comfort zone for me mentally has been fantastic and something that was needed at that time,” Alonzo explained. “With my wife not here anymore, we’ve had to take less for granted because my wife was a person who did everything for everybody. We’ve leaned on each other more than ever in life and we’ve enjoyed working together.”
