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Jack Easterby is a name you're going to need to know if you're a Houston Texans fan. When Easterby was hired after this past season, it didn't raise too many eyebrows. But the Texans just shocked everybody by firing general manager Brian Gaine, and Easterby is quickly emerging as a power player.
Easterby was hired to be the team's VP of Team Development, but his role has quickly been expanding.
A source told Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com that Easterby “already has ‘tons' of juice in Houston,” and John McClain of the Houston Chronicle recently reported that Easterby would be sitting in on the team's GM interviews.
McClain also wrote that we should “expect to hear more about Easterby,” soon. Easterby was hired away from the Patriots, where he had spent the previous six seasons. Head coach Bill O'Brien was vague when describing Easterby to the media, but he seemed to confirm that his role is significant.
“Jack is just what his title says,” O’Brien told reporters on Tuesday. “He is executive vice president of team development and he helps in all areas of the team. He helps me with the team. He helps in the different departments around the team, the departments that work with the team, obviously the training room, equipment room. He helps me with putting in processes to really help the duties of each department relative to the team. It’s all about the team and how can we improve the team and Jack has been an excellent addition to the organization.”
It's an interesting emergence, and one that everybody around the league is surely keeping an eye on. Easterby is unique in the sense that he doesn't have a coaching or scouting background, but owner Cal McNair clearly likes something about him.
