Officially, Bill Belichick’s title was Patriots head coach.

Unofficially, he served as the football czar of Foxboro.

All departments in the Patriots’ football operations reported to and flowed through Belichick, who had final say over the coaching staff, front office and roster. Now that the Patriots and Belichick have parted ways, the team will need a new personnel head for the first time since 2000. Who might that person be?

After discussions with league sources, the Herald identified seven top candidates for the job.

1. Patriots director of scouting Eliot Wolf

Wolf, 41, is the son of Hall of Fame executive Ron Wolf, who built a Super Bowl champion for the Packers and contributed to others with the Raiders. Wolf is regarded as a strong evaluator and independent thinker. He started his career with a 14-year stint in Green Bay, where he was over for the GM job in 2018. That led to two seasons as the Browns’ assistant general manager before he landed in New England, where he’s been the last three years.

Wolf effectively worked as the No. 3 in the Patriots’ front office under Belichick and director of player personnel Matt Groh, a Belichick loyalist. He also led certain negotiations in free agency, and the team leaned on his experience and connections within the league to conduct other business. Wolf is seen as an “old-school” scout who emphasizes tape study over all other variables in player evaluation.

2. Ex-Raiders GM Dave Ziegler

A longtime Patriots executive, Ziegler got his first shot at a head job when he left for Las Vegas with Josh McDaniels in Feb. 2022. Ziegler and McDaniels were fired last November, though Ziegler maintains a strong reputation in the league for having a natural eye for talent and an expansive network.

New Patriots de facto general manager Dave Ziegler, right, stands with former director of college scouting Monti Ossenfort during a practice outside Gillette Stadium. (Courtesy of the New England Patriots/Eric J. Adler)

The upside here is a candidate with GM experience, deep New England ties — he rose from assistant director of pro scouting in 2013 to Belichick’s lead personnel man in 2021 — and a fresh perspective. Ziegler also had major whiffs in Las Vegas, including signing 32-year-old defensive end Chandler Jones to a hefty free-agent contract, surrendering significant draft capital in a trade for Davante Adams ahead of Adams’ age-30 season and failing to restock an obviously depleted defense.

Ziegler should be considered one of the top external candidates in this search.

3. 49ers assistant GM Adam Peters

Peters is the hottest name on the market, having reportedly been named a finalist for the Commanders’ GM job. He is known as a sharp, well-rounded executive whose experience working as a pro and college evaluator for three franchises has served him well.

Peters got his NFL start with the Patriots, first serving as a scouting assistant in 2003, then a pro scout and area college scout over six seasons total. He moved on to Denver in 2009, where he eventually contributed to another Super Bowl team and became the Broncos’ director of college scouting. Peters has more than 20 years of front-office experience, including three as the assistant GM in San Francisco.

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4. Chiefs assistant GM Mike Borgonzi

A native of Everett, Mass., Borgonzi has already completed one interview for Washington’s GM opening. He’s spent 15 years in Kansas City, where over the last three years he’s “supervised and directed the club’s college and professional scouting operations while closely supporting and advising general manager Brett Veach,” per the team’s website. Borgonzi is well-respected in league circles and helped build a 2022 draft class that featured four rookie starters in last year’s Super Bowl.

A Brown graduate, Borgonzi jumped to the NFL after spending two years as the assistant recruiting director at Boston College (2007-2008) and many more in Boston’s financial district.

5. Ex-Titans GM Jon Robinson

After the Titans fired him in Dec. 2022, the 47-year-old Robinson spent the spring visiting other teams. He is regarded as an excellent college evaluator. Robinson’s seven years as a GM, during which time Tennessee posted six winning seasons, makes a strong case for him to at least earn an interview.

Robinson started his NFL career in New England, where he spent more than a decade rising from area scout to director of college scouting (2009-2013), before he left for an executive position in Tampa Bay and later Tennessee.

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6. Browns senior executive Bob Quinn

Another ex-GM, Quinn led the Lions’ front office from 2016-2020 and has since spent the last three years in Cleveland in a consulting role. Quinn joined Belichick’s original front office in 2000 as a player personnel assistant, then climbed to director of pro scouting in 2012. Working under Belichick and then director of player personnel Nick Caserio, Quinn helped build a Super Bowl champion in 2014.

His time with the Browns, who run an analytics-friendly front office under GM Andrew Berry, figures to have rounded out his scouting eye after years

7. Patriots senior personnel advisor Pat Stewart

Stewart rejoined the organization last year after spending two seasons as the Vice President of Player Personnel in Carolina. He has more than 15 years of front-office experience and worked as a Patriots scout from 2007-2017. Stewart then spent two seasons with the Eagles. His time outside of New England and in leadership roles figures to be attractive to an ownership group that must recognize their personnel department needs fresh ideas.