Veteran FSU football athletic trainer Jake Pfeil leaving for NFL job

The Florida State football team is losing its longest-tenured support staff member, as head athletic trainer Jake Pfeil is leaving to take a similar position with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons.

Pfeil, who also was the Seminoles' Executive Associate Director of Sports Medicine, had worked with the football program since 2011 after previously spending six seasons with the FSU baseball program.

As part of his football responsibilities, Pfeil oversaw the daily medical care of the Seminoles' players, including injury prevention and rehabilitation.

FSU's players were informed of Pfeil's departure at a team meeting Monday afternoon, according to an athletics department source.

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The longtime FSU staff member was very well-liked and respected in the Seminoles' athletics department and turned down overtures from other organizations in the past, including an offer to join Jimbo Fisher's staff at Texas A&M in 2018.

Pfeil earned his bachelor's degree in sports management, with an emphasis in athletic training, from FSU in 2000. He then earned a master’s degree in sport administration from Mississippi State University, where he was a graduate assistant athletic trainer for the football team.

*ALSO SEE: Our Q&A with Jake Pfeil from last spring

The Madison County, Fla., native held summer internships with the Falcons in 1999 and 2002 and was a "season assistant" with the club in 2002. Pfeil's wife, Cheryl, also is an FSU graduate and longtime member of the Seminoles' athletics training staff.

Pfeil is expected to replace veteran director of sports medicine Marty Lauzon, who was reportedly dismissed by the Falcons last month.

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