Trent Baalke

Trent Baalke

San Francisco 49ers
Position:	General manager
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1964-02-14) February 14, 1964
Career information
College:	Bemidji State
Career history
As executive:
New York Jets (1998–2000) Personnel scout Washington Redskins (2001–2003) National scout Washington Redskins (2004) College scouting coordinator San Francisco 49ers (2005–2007) Western Region Scout San Francisco 49ers (2008–2009) Director of player personnel San Francisco 49ers (2010) Vice president of player personnel San Francisco 49ers (2011–present) General manager

Trent John Baalke (/ˈbɑːlkiː/ BAHL-kee) (born February 14, 1964) is the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers, an American football team in the National Football League (NFL). He was first hired by the 49ers in 2005 as their Western Region Scout, and three years later 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 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.

Prior to joining the 49ers, Trent Baalke's NFL career included a stint as a scout for the New York Jets from 1998 to 2000, and four years with the Washington Redskins, first as a National Scout and then as College Scouting Coordinator.

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 Cass stirred up a minor scandal when she suggested in a tweet that Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman should 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 Jan. 3, 2016.