Jaguars Hire Former 49ers Executive Ethan Waugh As Trent Baalke's Assistant GM

Trent Baalke officially has his right-hand man in Jacksonville.

The Jacksonville Jaguars made things official with long-time San Francisco 49ers scout and executive Ethan Waugh on Wednesday, announcing Waugh as the team's newest assistant general manager. 

The Jaguars entered this offseason with hopes of adding more members to the front office, specifically under the general manager. With Waugh, the Jaguars did so with an experienced executive and someone who is familiar with the head of the Jaguars' front office.

“We are excited to add Ethan to our organization,” Jaguars General Manager Trent Baalke said in a release. 

“Strengthening the personnel department was a priority this offseason and we are thrilled to make this addition to the team. I enjoyed working alongside Ethan in San Francisco for over a decade, and I know he will work tirelessly to help build a winning organization here in Jacksonville.”

Waugh and Baalke have worked together previously, as Baalke was the 49ers' General Manager from 2011 to 2016 and worked for the Niners for 11 years as a scout (2005-2007), Director of Player Personnel (2008-2009), and Vice President of Player Personnel (2010).

Waugh has 17 years of front office experience with the 49ers in a few different capacities. He started as the team’s personnel assistant where he was involved in the evaluation and scouting of college and professional players. Waugh also served as the team’s midwest regional scout (2008-2011), senior personnel assistant (2012-2014), and senior player personnel coordinator (2015-2017) before taking on the role of vice president of player personnel where he oversees the college scouting staff and the daily operations.

Jaguars owner Shad Khan said on Feb. 5 following the hire of head coach Doug Pederson that he wanted to see the front office develop this offseason. While the Jaguars at the time were considering an executive vice president to oversee the football operations as a whole, the Jaguars refrained from hiring an executive above Baalke. 

"But definitely I think the interview process, I mean, we got great insights on how the organization under Trent is structured. So we need depth there, simple as that, experience. Both of those are what we're working on," Khan said.

"Well, one of the reasons we had the search was not only looking for the head coaching candidate but really to learn about other organizations. I mean, that's a by-product of the coaching search," Khan said. "So some of the practices, some of the structure that works, we got a great insight into it. So strengthening the football operations, more staff, definitely, that's part of our goal. So I mean, we've had too flat an organization, and we want to add brainpower and more people to strengthen that."