The San Francisco 49ers announced on Thursday that Jeff Ferguson has been promoted to Director of Football Operations & Sports Medicine. Having served as the team's Head Athletic Trainer since 2006, Ferguson now also oversees the 49ers strength and conditioning, team logistics, equipment and video operations departments.
"Over the past five seasons, Jeff has proven to all of us at the 49ers that he is a highly capable administrator," said 49ers General Manager Trent Baalke. "He has a wealth of knowledge having worked in both professional and collegiate athletics, as well as the private medical sector. Jeff has always done an exceptional job of caring for our players and coaches, and has a way of bringing the people around him together for a common goal. In his new role, that is ultimately what he is charged with."
For the last five seasons, Ferguson has overseen the team's rehabilitation procedures, injury records, training room and daily athletic training duties. He joined the 49ers after serving as the manager of athletic team development with BREG, an orthopedic company based out of Vista, CA. From June of 2005 until March of 2006, Ferguson specialized in sports medicine bracing for BREG.
Prior to his move to the West coast, Ferguson spent eight years in several capacities at Kansas State University, though he continued to serve as the athletic trainer for the Kansas State football team throughout his time in Manhattan. He began his career in Wildcat athletics in 1997 as an assistant athletic trainer for intercollegiate sports.
In 2002, Ferguson was promoted to assistant athletic director for sports medicine, a position he held until 2005. In his role, Ferguson was responsible for the prevention, evaluation, treatment and rehabilitation of all athletic injuries, in addition to supervising medical coverage for 14 collegiate athletic teams.
The previous two years (1995-97), Ferguson was an athletic trainer with an orthopedic surgeon and physical therapy company in Louisburg, NC. While doing graduate work at the University of Texas at Arlington, he spent two years as a graduate assistant athletic trainer that included the task of head athletic trainer for the track and field teams.
A native of Clemson, S.C., Ferguson earned his bachelor's degree in 1993 at Clemson University and his master's degree in 1995 at Texas-Arlington. He got his start in college athletic training as a student athletic trainer at Clemson from 1989 to 1993, and spent the 1992 summer as a preseason athletic trainer for the New England Patriots. He is also a certified member of the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA).
