Physical Therapist​/Athletic Trainer – Football

🔍 Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation, Stanford, California, United States

New📁 Athletics

📅 Posted 3 days ago

Post Date: 📅 108319 Requisition #

Reports To:

Head Football Athletic Trainer

Collaborates With:
Return-to-Play (RTP) Coordinator, Physical Therapist supporting football, Team Physicians, Sports Performance, Sports Nutrition, Sport Psychology

Stanford’s Department of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation (“DAPER”) is the premier intercollegiate athletics program in the country and proud Home of Champions. Our success is built on a culture of excellence, scholar‑athleticism, and collaboration. All DAPER staff are guided by The DAPER Way:
Embrace Scholar-Athleticism, Pursue and Revere Excellence, Lead with Courage, and Work Cohesively.

Are you ready to inspire champions? If so, this may be the right opportunity for you.

The Physical Therapist / Athletic Trainer – Football is a dual‑credentialed clinician and full‑time member of the football staff, exclusively embedded within the athletic training department. This position reports directly to the Head Football Athletic Trainer and provides integrated athletic training and physical therapy services dedicated strictly to the football environment. Distinct from a clinic‑based model, the role focuses on the seamless transition between clinical rehabilitation and daily athletic training coverage.

This role leads and supports injury evaluation, acute care, and rehabilitation through late‑stage functional preparation. Working in close alignment with the football physical therapy staff, the position ensures that once defined clinical and functional benchmarks are achieved, the athlete transitions seamlessly into on‑field progression. As a collaborative practitioner within a unified medical team, the individual contributes to the Return‑to‑Play (RTP) process rather than serving as an independent owner of on‑field transitions or operating as a standalone clinician.

To ensure a consistent continuity of care, the position manages reconditioning in coordination with the RTP Coordinator to maintain clinical integrity throughout the return‑to‑play phase. This structure is designed to enhance care within a multidisciplinary team while maintaining clear role accountability and an established reporting hierarchy. All daily operations and clinical oversight remain unified under the Football Sports Medicine leadership to provide a cohesive healthcare model for the student‑athlete.

• Provide comprehensive athletic training services for assigned football student‑athletes, including:
  • Injury and illness prevention
  • Injury evaluation, assessment, and diagnosis
  • Immediate and emergency care
  • Therapeutic interventions and rehabilitation support
• Provide practice and game coverage, including home and away events, as assigned by the Head Football Athletic Trainer.
• Participate in daily athletic training room operations, including taping, bracing, recovery modalities, and injury triage.
• Make participation status recommendations during practices and competitions in collaboration with sports medicine leadership and team physicians.
• Maintain emergency readiness at all sanctioned football activities, including adherence to emergency action plans.
• Assist with pre‑participation physical examinations and ongoing injury surveillance.
• Provide support in administrative areas, as assigned by the athletic training leadership.

• Manage comprehensive, evidence‑based rehabilitation plans for football student‑athletes in collaboration with the Football Physical Therapist, as appropriate.
• Deliver elite‑level care, including manual therapy, neuromuscular re‑education, and progressive loading strategies.
• Utilize objective sports science tools for gait analysis and biomechanical screening to guide clinical readiness.
• Fabricate and fit protective appliances, braces, and orthoses to support injury management and limb protection.
• Lead rehabilitation through late‑stage functional preparation, utilizing objective and subjective…