Jack

Easterby

Easterby has been with the Texans since 2019 and served as interim general manager in 2020 before the Texans hired Nick Caserio. Even after Caserio was hired, reports surfaced that Easterby was making calls to agents behaving like a general manager, adding to a culture of dysfunction in Houston. His departure marks a major shift in direction for the Texans and could indicate more changes are on the way. Caserio and Easterby have ties that go back to the Patriots and would have had a role in the selection of head coach Lovie Smith as well.

Count us skeptical. Easterby, by all accounts, is very much involved in Houston’s decision making and reportedly has the ear of team owner Cal McNair. “It’s a support role that really hopefully drives the innovation and hopefully the efficiency of the operation to give the coaches and the players and the general manager what they need to be able to do their job well,” Easterby said in a recent interview, explaining his undefined role with the Texans. In January, The Bench 97.5’s Lance Zierlein reported Easterby is “still making calls to agents on behalf of the team and is very much involved in the football side.” That Easterby -- who clearly has influence over the team’s direction -- remains with the organization is a mystery without any clues. The Texans will remain a laughing stock as long as their failed front office stays intact.

In other words, chaplain, character coach, etc. Easterby is still behaving like a football guy/general manager. Easterby and the Texans had claimed this would not be the case after Nick Caserio was hired to lead the front office. Every Texans fire over the past 18 months has originated from Easterby’s office, and he seems intent on starting more. Letting a character coach essentially run the organization into the ground is one of the more baffling, surreal front office developments we have seen in North American sports this century. The Texans need to get this fixed if they are to have even a one percent chance of keeping Deshaun Watson.

This comes after Watson tweeted his frustrations with the Texans’ front office. Watson has a fractured relationship with EVP Jack Easterby and reportedly considers owner Cal McNair’s remarks regarding their relationship “patronizing.” The Texans didn’t consult Watson before hiring GM Nick Caserio and failed to interview Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy, who Watson recommended, during the Wild Card round. The Texans may have to pick between keeping Watson and firing Easterby this offseason.

This, of course, would be the type of thing Easterby would leak to the media, but we’re taking the report seriously. The Texans have been interviewing GM candidates for the last two weeks, and Garafolo reports the job has become “more attractive to those with no ties to Easterby.” A broader general manager search should be considered a win for Deshaun Watson and Texans fans.

“Let me reiterate: Jack will not be our general manager,” McNair said. “But he will have a significant role in helping shape our future here within the Texans. (Easterby) is going to be an incredibly valuable part of our franchise moving forward as he works with our next general manager and head coach.” It sounds like Easterby, who is showing a knack for winning power struggles, could be a GM by another name. Easterby has zero background in football personnel, so it would certainly behoove McNair to hire an actual GM. The Texans are not prone to making responsible front office decisions, however.

It has been quite a rise for Easterby, beginning his career as a pastor, speaker and author, then becoming the Patriots’ Team and Character Development coach, to now this role with the Texans. He will have plenty of roster decisions to make over the next 13 weeks of the NFL season. Texans owner Cal McNair shared the important detail that he will first hire a new general manager following the completion of the season before hiring a new head coach. Easterby will then “return to his position as executive vice president of football operations.”

Easterby has only been with the Texans since April 2019 but has already established himself as the No. 2 man in the front office. It’s been quite the ascent for the Patriots’ former team chaplain and life coach/character coach (lol), one that included allegations of tampering with Pats director of player personnel Nick Caserio mere months into his tenure. Easterby’s primary function appears to be serving as coach/GM Bill O’Brien’s No. 1 yes man.