When Jacob Legan, DAT ’22 was named the 2025 International League Athletic Trainer of the Year, he was in the middle of another long season with the Cleveland Guardians’ Triple-A affiliate, focused on the same work he’s done for more than a decade: keeping players healthy, honest about how they’re feeling, and ready for the next call.
“To be recognized by your peers is humbling,” Legan said. “But the group award means even more to me.”
In addition to the individual honor, the Cleveland Guardians were named Minor League Medical Staff of the Year, a first-time distinction that Legan views as a clearer reflection of the organization’s culture and values.
Legan has spent 12 years with the Cleveland Guardians organization, working his way through the minor league system and now serving at the Triple-A level. In that role, he helps balance the demands of competition with the responsibility of preparing players for the major leagues, all within a season that stretches from spring training through early fall.
“If a player can trust you, that gives you the ability to do your job at a high level,” Legan said. “They’re not just athletes. They’re people.”
That perspective began to take shape at East Carolina University, where mentors helped Legan connect his interest in sports medicine with his love of baseball. Internships with the Tennessee Smokies and Cleveland’s Double-A affiliate followed, along with graduate work at The University of Akron, where he served as a graduate assistant athletic trainer.
Those early experiences were demanding and, at times, uncomfortable. One internship included sleeping on the floor of a coach’s apartment and sharing hotel rooms on the road. Looking back, Legan sees those moments as foundational.
“They didn’t have to do that for me,” he said. “When you peel it back, it was extraordinarily kind. I try to pay that forward.”
That same mindset led Legan to Temple’s Doctor of Athletic Training (DAT) program in 2020. As a full-time clinician with a demanding travel schedule, flexibility mattered. So did philosophy.
“Temple really valued clinician experience, patient preference, and evidence together,” Legan said. “That approach resonated with me.”
Now, Legan applies those principles daily in Triple-A baseball, a level he describes as uniquely complex. Teams are expected to compete, but their primary purpose is preparing players to contribute in Cleveland. That balance requires constant communication, adaptability, and trust across players and staff.
Off the field, Legan balances the demands of the season with family life. He and his wife are raising two young children, and he credits her support as essential during months spent on the road.
“She’s a rock star,” he said.
When asked what advice he’d give students hoping to follow a similar path, Legan emphasized self-advocacy, relationship-building, and patience.
“Wherever you’re at, that’s your big leagues,” he said. “If you do the job well where you are, the rest takes care of itself.”
It’s a perspective shaped by gratitude and experience, and one that continues to guide Legan as he looks ahead. For him, recognition is meaningful, but responsibility matters more—especially when it comes to creating the same kinds of opportunities he once relied on.
In a profession built on trust, long seasons, and quiet moments behind the scenes, Legan has built his career by doing the same thing that helped him get here in the first place: showing up, investing in people, and paying it forward.