| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1964-02-14)February 14, 1964 (age 61) Rosendale, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| College | Bemidji State (1982–1985) |
| Career history | |
Coaching | |
| |
Operations | |
| |
| Executive profile atPro Football Reference | |
Trent John Baalke (/ˈbɑːlki/BAHL-kee; born February 14, 1964) is an Americanfootball executive who was most recently thegeneral manager of theJacksonville Jaguars of theNational Football League (NFL).
ARosendale, Wisconsin native, Baalke earned hisbachelor's degree in health and physical education atBemidji State University, where he playedoutside linebacker and was an All-Northern Sun Conference and All-Midwest Region honoree.[1]
Baalke began his career in coaching in 1989 as a graduate assistant forNorth Dakota State. From 1990 to 1995, Baalke was a defensive line and strength & conditioning coach forSouth Dakota State. He then spent two years as the athletic director ofShanley High School inFargo, North Dakota, before breaking into the NFL as a scout for theNew York Jets in 1998, a role in which Baalke spent three seasons.[2]
In 2001, Baalke was hired by theWashington Redskins, spending four years with the team. From 2001 to 2003, he was a national scout, before being promoted to college scouting coordinator in 2004.[3]
In 2005, Baalke was hired by theSan 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 the2010 NFL draft, in place ofScot McCloughan, and a month later was given the title of vice president of player personnel.[4] Baalke's official promotion to general manager came shortly after the firing ofMike Singletary as head coach of the 49ers, in anticipation of needing an official general manager to lureJim Harbaugh away fromStanford for the vacant coaching position.[5][6]
In January 2012, Baalke was namedPFWA 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.[7] The next month, Baalke received a contract extension through 2016.[8]
After a 2014 season filled with reports that Baalke and then-49ers coachJim Harbaugh had been clashing, the 49ers parted ways with Harbaugh and promoted defensive line coachJim Tomsula to the head coaching position. Tomsula led the 49ers to a 5–11 record in 2015 and was fired on January 3, 2016.[9] 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 their duties on January 1, 2017.[10]
On August 7, 2017, Baalke was hired as a football operations consultant for the NFL.[11] In this advisory role for NFL, he worked on game-related matters, player development, evaluation, and officiating video review.[12]
On February 4, 2020, Baalke was hired as director of player personnel of theJacksonville Jaguars.[13] On November 29, he was promoted to interim general manager following the firing ofDavid Caldwell,[14] and was retained for the role full-time after the season.[15] On January 22, 2025, Baalke was fired after a number of head coach candidates did not want to work with him.[16] Under Baalke as their general manager, the Jaguars had a 25–43 record.[17]