Trent John Baalke is the General Manager of the San Francisco 49ers, an American football team in the National Football League. He was officially named General Manager in January 2011, though he had been responsible for the duties of a general manager since Scot McCloughan's departure from the team in March 2010. 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.