The Houston Texans poached one of the New England Patriots' most anonymous and unsung heroes. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Texans have hired longtime Patriots Character Coach and Team Development Director Jack Easterby as their Executive Vice President of Team Development.

Easterby joined the Patriots in 2013 after serving as the Kansas City Chiefs' team chaplain, where Bill Belichick became aware of him because of Easterby's relationship with then Chiefs head coach and former New England defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel. His first NFL job came in 2005 with the Jacksonville Jaguars' football operations department.

As New England's Character Coach/Team Development Director, Easterby did everything from lead team prayers to aid in the daily lives of players and coaches, becoming a beloved and indispensable member of the Patriots' staff. He even helped New England special-teams ace Matthew Slater and his wife prepare for marriage, and officiated two weddings of defensive end Derek Rivers.

“To be able to have someone like that to encourage guys spiritually, to build friendships, to build manhood, to build fatherhood, to build marriages, is so important,” Slater said of Easterby, per Patriots.com's Erik Scalavino. “Those are the things that are going to last well beyond the game of football. You’re looking for the right guy to do that. We didn’t feel like we were doing a good enough job. There were so many things we were coming up short in. To have Jack come in really filled the gap, really made this whole place better. It’s been tremendous.”

Easterby, who left the Patriots last month, joins the staff of Texans coach Bill O'Brien, with whom he developed a previous relationship in New England.