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Trent John Baalke (/ˈbɑːlkiː/ BAHL-kee) (born February 14, 1964) is an American football executive who is the general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the Jaguars' director of player personnel and as the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers in the early 2010s.

Early years

A Rosendale, Wisconsin native, Baalke earned his bachelor's degree in health and physical education at Bemidji State University, where he played outside linebacker and was an All-Northern Sun Conference and All-Midwest Region honoree.

Executive career

New York Jets

Baalke's began his career as a scout for the New York Jets from 1998 to 2000.

Washington Redskins

In 2001, Baalke was hired by the Washington Redskins and spent four years with the team, first as a national scout and then as college scouting coordinator.

San Francisco 49ers

In 2005, Baalke was hired by the San Francisco 49ers as their western region scout and in 2008, was promoted to director of player personnel, a position largely responsible for overseeing the team's college scouting operations. Baalke was chosen to lead the 49ers in the 2010 NFL Draft, in place of Scot McCloughan, and a month later was given the title of vice president of player personnel. His official promotion to general manager came shortly after the firing of Mike Singletary as head coach of the 49ers, in anticipation of needing an official GM to lure Jim Harbaugh away from Stanford for the vacant coaching position.

In January 2012, Baalke was named PFWA Executive of the Year for the 2011 season, after being credited for transforming a 6–10 team into a 13–3 team in his first season as general manager. The next month he received a contract extension through 2016.

Following a home game for the 49ers on Thanksgiving Day, 2014, in which the division-rival Seattle Seahawks defeated the 49ers 19–3, Baalke's daughter Cassie stirred up a minor scandal when she suggested in a tweet that offensive coordinator Greg Roman be dismissed from the team.

After a 2014 season filled with reports that Baalke and then-49ers coach Jim Harbaugh had been clashing, the 49ers parted ways with Harbaugh and promoted defensive line coach Jim Tomsula to the head coaching position. Tomsula led the 49ers to a 5–11 record in 2015 and was fired on January 3, 2016. On January 14, 2016, Chip Kelly was hired as the head coach of the 49ers and led them to a 2–14 record, one of the worst conference records in their franchise history and their worst season since 2004. This led to Baalke and Kelly both being relieved of duties on January 1, 2017.

Baalke later became a football operations consultant for the NFL. In this advisory role for NFL, he worked on game-related matters, player development, evaluation, and officiating video review.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On February 4, 2020, he was hired as director of pro personnel of the Jacksonville Jaguars. On November 29, 2020, Baalke was promoted to interim general manager following the firing of David Caldwell. On January 21, 2021, Baalke was named the general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Personal life

Baalke and his wife, Beth, have two daughters, Katy and Cassie.

References

1. "San Francisco 49ers: Trent Baalke". 49ers.com. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
2. Matt Barrows (March 26, 2010). "49ers Blog and Q&A: The Trent Baalke file". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
3. "Baalke receives promotion to 49ers' VP of player personnel". Associated Press. May 20, 2010. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
4. "49ers promote Trent Baalke to GM". ESPN. January 5, 2011. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
5. Jason Kirk (January 4, 2011). "Jim Harbaugh OKs San Francisco 49ers General Manager Candidates, According To Report". SB Nation. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
6. Dan Arkush (January 17, 2012). "49ers' Baalke named Executive of the Year". Pro Football Weekly. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
7. "49ers extend Baalke's deal". CSN Bay Area. February 10, 2012. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
8. Josh Katzowitz (November 28, 2014). "Trent Baalke's daughter rips 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman". CBS Sports. Retrieved November 28, 2014.
9. "One year after pushing out Jim Harbaugh, 49ers fire Jim Tomsula". yahoo.com. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
10. "49ers announce firings of coach Chip Kelly, GM Trent Baalke". espn.com. January 1, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
11. Schefter, Adam. "In his advisory role for NFL, Trent Baalke will work on game-related matters, player development and evaluation, officiating video review". Retrieved January 25, 2018.
12. "Jaguars Hire Trent Baalke as Director of Player Personnel". Jacksonville Jaguars. February 4, 2020. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
13. Day, Ryan (November 29, 2020). "Jaguars officially eliminated from 2020 NFL playoffs". Big Cat Country. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
14. Oehser, John (January 21, 2021). www.jaguars.com https://www.jaguars.com/news/official-baalke-named-general-manager. Retrieved January 21, 2021. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

• Living people
• American football linebackers
• Bemidji State Beavers football players
• Jacksonville Jaguars executives
• New York Jets personnel
• North Dakota State Bison football coaches
• San Francisco 49ers executives
• South Dakota State Jackrabbits football coaches
• Washington Redskins personnel
• National Football League general managers
• 1964 births
• People from Rosendale, Wisconsin