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Before joining the Texans in a a front office that he quickly parlayed into a much bigger one, executive V.P. of football operations and interim G.M. Jack Easterby worked for the Patriots. In a Monday conference call with Houston media in advance of the Week 11 game between the two teams, Belichick was asked about Easterby, whose rise through the ranks has left fans and observers in Houston and beyond curious and/or dubious.
“Jack did a great job for us,” Belichick said. “His role was a varied one. He worked with a lot of different aspects of the organization — players, coaches, support people, so forth. He was a person who could connect well with everybody, from the owner of the team to the equipment manager or equipment guy that picks up towels and all the people in between. He was a very valuable person in this organization in the time he was here.”
So did Belichick ever think Easterby would pursue a job involving football personnel decisions?
“Jack’s not a personnel person, no,” Belichick said.
Some regard the remark as a bodyslam of Easterby, but it’s not. It’s a statement of cold, hard, undeniable fact. It seems like shade only because Easterby has, with the imprimatur of owner Cal McNair, strayed so far from Easterby’s skillset.
It also seems like shade because few have called Easterby out, despite multiple examples of potential biographical embellishment, from the overstatement of his experiences with Jacksonville in 2004 (the online bio was conspicuously changed, and the Texans did not provide accurate information to PFT about the timing of the change when asked about it earlier this season) to whether he actually worked for the Chiefs (he never did) to the notion that he was entrusted with over 50 coaching searches at various colleges (an impressive accomplishment given that he graduated college in 2005).
Ultimately, McNair can do whatever he wants to do. Those outside the organization, in turn, can say whatever they want to say regarding the possibility that the person who has finagled some a major title (and surely a sizable salary) with the Houston Texans actually deserves the job, especially in light of the sheer volume of people employed in lesser roles with other teams, people who clearly have more qualifications and better actual credentials than Easterby.
