April 18, 2025 • 54 mins
Jack Easterby's remarkable journey from small-college dual-sport athlete to NFL executive unveils powerful truths about resilience in the face of both extraordinary success and heartbreaking setbacks. With disarming honesty, Jack shares how his early foundation at Newberry College—where he balanced academic excellence with athletic achievement—prepared him for increasingly visible leadership roles in sports.
What makes Jack's story compelling isn't just his rapid rise through the professional sports world—from academic tutor at South Carolina to character coach for the Kansas City Chiefs to winning three Super Bowls with the New England Patriots—but his thoughtful reflections on the lessons learned during both mountaintop experiences and valley moments. His candid insights about navigating a tragic player situation in Kansas City reveal how he developed "the value of listening" during trauma, a skill that would prove invaluable throughout his career.
The conversation takes us behind the curtain of championship culture with the Patriots, where Jack observed firsthand what creates sustainable success: "a lot of high character people who know what to do and can do it consistently." Yet equally illuminating is his perspective on his time as Executive VP with the Houston Texans, where he encountered significant challenges. Rather than deflecting, Jack humbly acknowledges: "I learned a lot of things that I know I can do better as a leader."
Throughout this episode, Jack offers wisdom that transcends sports—explaining why "the cornerstone of good leadership is creating emotional stability" and how "we're all rough drafts of the people we're becoming." His most profound insight might be that "life is measured by time, but experienced in moments"—a perspective that shapes his approach to both leadership and personal fulfillment. For anyone navigating their own climb through adversity toward meaningful success, Jack's parting advice is transformative: focus less on the gap between where you are and where you want to be, and more on showing up fully each day.
Subscribe to The Klimb with Adrian Branch podcast for more inspiring conversations with resilient individuals who have turned obstacles into stepping stones for extraordinary achievement.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Adrian Branch , former pro-athlete turned
motivational speaker andcertified life coach, and
welcome to the Climb, a showwhere we celebrate the stories
of resilient people sharing howthey turned adversity into
success, from the businesssector to athletes and beyond.
Be inspired and learn what ittakes to climb.
Hello everybody, I'm your host,adrian Branch, and welcome to
(00:30):
the Climb, a show, as we said,celebrates the resilience of
people and their stories ofovercoming potholes and
obstacles.
We want you to come away fromthis show saying if they can do
it, I can do it too.
If they can overcome, I canovercome as well.
Well, today our guest is aperson that fits that build.
His name is Jack Easterby, andhe is an amazing person.
(00:53):
You're going to hear his storyfrom the highest highs,
accomplishing with integrity andconsistency, and also with some
of life's challenges.
So Jack was one of the youngestvice presidents, executive vice
presidents in the NFL.
He's also been a charactercoach and chaplain.
So, without further ado, I wantto introduce a man well
(01:17):
respected by my entire familyJack Easterby.
Jacky, jack, how you doing.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Jacky.
Jack how you doing, what's up?
Ab how you doing.
Brother, man, what a specialhonor to be with you and to
celebrate what you're doing tomake a difference, man.
What a blessing.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Well, I want to be like you when I grow up.
Man, you have been soaccomplished and I'm so excited.
You impress our entire family,so I want to get right into it,
because your story is so richand so many experiences, and
this is what this show is.
We want these listeners outhere to identify with some of
these touch points.
So, jumping right into it, takeus back.
(01:54):
You're home, columbia, southCarolina, mom and dad, jimmy
Easterby, betsy, salt of theearth people but you started.
You had a fascinating story,starting at Newberry College.
Tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, so I was really blessed to have great family.
I have one sister and I grew upthere in Columbia and just
loved playing sports from ayoung age.
My dad worked at our church asa sports ministry director and
so, as you know, when you arethe son or the daughter of a
sports ministry director, youend up in the church gym a lot,
(02:29):
and so, from camps to clinics toyou know things that we did in
the community to leagues, ourfamily was very active in the
sports ministry scene inColumbia and so naturally, when
it was time to go to college, Ireally wanted to continue my
journey in sports.
I had played sports in highschool and enjoyed that.
(02:50):
Financially, our family reallyneeded to receive some
assistance to go to school, andso Newberry recruited me,
fortunately, to play both sports, both basketball and golf,
which was a unique combinationbetween those sports to kind of
two different demographics ofpeople, two different style
teams.
You know, one obviously has anindividual component, one has a
(03:12):
huge team component but wasfortunate to be OK at both, and
so Newberry offered me ascholarship to come there and
play both, and really coolexperience, because Newberry at
the time was experiencing adesire across the board to kind
of scale up their athleticdepartment, and so they really
invested in student athletes togive them better facilities,
(03:36):
obviously better financial aid,and then better coaches to try
to compete in the conference.
And so I was fortunate to getthere and we were at the dirt
underneath the totem pole whenwe started and then we, by the
end, were competing forchampionships in both sports.
So it was a really fun journey.
And being at a school with thatsize so Newberry was a little
(03:57):
over 1,000 when I was there gaveme great opportunity for
student-athlete leadership,student leadership in ministry
you know different ministryorganizations and also, just you
know, leadership opportunitieson campus right where you can
rally the students arounddifferent movements, different
events and try to serve thestudent body.
(04:18):
So I got a great chance earlyon to have reps in leadership,
whether that was things we weredoing in athletic department or
things we were doing campus-wide, and I feel like that really
began to formulate my desire tomake a difference through sports
.
And so Newberry, yeah, had agreat, awesome impact on me and
our beginning.
And then the best thing to comeout of Newberry is met my wife.
(04:42):
Oh okay, yeah, so she was therethere, uh, homecoming queen and
whoa up there.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Okay, I told you, I want to be you when I grow up.
I told you oh, I never knewthat.
I never knew you.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Two connected from college yes, so she was with the
fellowship of christianathletes here.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
She was actually um an officer with fca that's how
you were a Fellowship of theChristian Athlete of the Year on
campus.
Huh, that was the motivation.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
That's right.
That's right.
Yep Spent a lot more time therewhen she was leading.
But, yeah, really coolexperience.
And Newberry was a greatopportunity for me to really get
to know not only the value ofsports and the impact of the
college level, but also the waythat sports can lead you into a
career.
I was a sports management majorthere, so I got a chance to do
(05:32):
some internships and otherthings that led me into what I
would ultimately do from acareer perspective.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
I'd love to ask you this because you just mentioned
and I know you wouldn't say it,but I have some notes written
down Athlete of the Year,student Athlete of the Year in
the SAC back in 2005, men's GolfCharacter Award.
So you were really achieving.
My question is how were youable to keep your compass point
(05:59):
at North when at times, this isa whole talk by itself?
College is a time where peopleare really trying to identify
with identity.
They want to find their tribe,they want to find where they
belong.
How were you able to do thatconsistently and how were you
able to stay passionate aboutdoing what's right because it's
right and doing it right?
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Well, at Newberry I was really fortunate because a
lot of the people that weresurrounding us at Newberry the
other athletes that were onother teams and then those that
were with us in our SCA groupand, you know, I would say, the
student athlete success groupthey were all really doing
things for the first time, right, and so there was a lot of
people that were whether it waswinning the conference for the
(06:43):
first time, right, and so therewas a lot of people that were
whether it was winning theconference for the first time,
or you know, obviously theexpectations of the athletic
department were increasing andso we had a whole group that
were unified.
We would, we did Bible studiestogether, we obviously hung out
together, we trained together,and that was multiple sports.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
So it was positive peer pressure.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
It was a positive peer pressure I mean, you know
it was a lot about the companywe kept right, and so, you know,
honestly, I fell into some ofthat Tamir Zimmerman and several
other athletes that were therethat played different sports
where we would talk about goalsetting and, you know, hanging
out on the weekends anddifferent things that we would
(07:25):
do for our own sports and then,obviously, playing two sports.
I had two support systems, soyear round I was deviating in
and out of those two supportsystems and doing what we had to
do to train and compete forthose sports.
So you know, to be transparentwith you, ab, I didn't come up
with that Like.
That was really something thatyou know.
My compass was given to me bytwo really caring and loving
(07:47):
coaches and then also acommunity of people that wanted
to be successful, and so I fellinto that and then, as I matured
and my faith became really thecenter point of my entire life,
for me personally, that becamemy North Star and my decision
maker.
It's everything that we weredoing was to try to honor the
Lord, in addition to all thosepeople around us that were
(08:10):
really good humans.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
I found this.
This is what I alwaysappreciated about you.
I thought you had.
You always talk about IQ and EQand I thought it was balanced,
because I always saw you havingwisdom beyond your years, but
also you lived as if the boatwas burned.
So if it's going to be, it's upto me.
Tell us about that combinationwith IQ and EQ and the urgency
(08:34):
of wisdom and working hard totry to get what you want legally
and morally.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah.
So that's a great question.
I think, you know, I was reallyfortunate.
My parents gave me everythingfrom a standpoint of love and
truth and a biblical upbringing.
My parents gave me everythingfrom a standpoint of love and
truth and a biblical upbringing.
But there was, let's say,humble beginnings for the
Easterby family, meaning thatthere was, we didn't have a lot
of extra.
And so I knew, you know, when Iwent to school, really it was a
(09:01):
missional, you know, trip Right, it was a.
It was a hey, you're going nowto grow and achieve and you need
to get after it, becausethere's really not a whole lot
to come back to from astandpoint of you know, there
was no family business or anysort of headstart there.
I needed to go get after it.
And so I felt, like you know,when I got to college, the
(09:22):
intellectual curiosity ofunderstanding, like, hey, I got
to learn and grow because I gotto kind of make this work, was
always at the, always at thecenter point of my mind.
It was a healthy challenge formy parents.
I think, when you intersect loveand truth, where you're talking
about EQ and IQ, I think, whenyou intersect love and truth and
you tell people the truth butyou love them while you do it.
(09:43):
That expedites growth, and Iwould say my parents did a great
job expediting my growth bygiving me love and truth until I
got to college and then wasfortunate, when I got to
Newberry, that several coachesand again several of my athlete
constituents also did that.
Hey, let's love each other butlet's tell each other the truth,
and I think that grows both IQand EQ.
(10:04):
You can learn things, but ifyour emotions aren't strong
enough and you aren't loved wellenough, sometimes it's hard to
apply them Right.
And so I think that for me andfor my experience both in
college and then right out ofcollege, I think love and truth
was a huge part of the reason Ifelt comfortable going places
(10:24):
other people in my family hadn'tbeen yet.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Right.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
And I felt I felt love Right.
Other people in my familyhadn't been yet Right and I felt
I felt love right.
I felt like I had been lovedand I felt like I had been told
the truth, both good and bad,that some I didn't want to hear
and some I did want to hear.
Um, I remember, uh, one of my,one of my early days, uh, uh, is
a basketball player.
You know, when they re, yourealize your talent isn't going
to be as good and you're playingwith people that are better
(10:48):
than you now.
I remember my coach when Icrossed half one time in
practice.
He said hey, the best thing youcan do when you get the ball
crossed half is get it tosomebody else.
So I knew that my Bible studyleader at that point was our
basketball coach and so I knewhe loved me and he was telling
me the truth.
Get the ball to somebody elsewho can do something.
(11:10):
Okay, I didn't see that onecoming, jack, I didn't see that
one coming, wow so anyway,uh-huh, I say that to say you're
, when you have people aroundyou that care for you and also
tell you the truth, whether it'shard truth or just things that
you, you know, need to hearabout a circumstance, your iq
and your ecu right, your abilityto make the right decision
(11:31):
intellectually but alsoemotionally, process the right
emotions in the moment they bothgrow, and so I was fortunate
you know both again growing upand then in college, I think to
have both of those seeds plantedfirmly in my heart, in addition
to my faith that made, I think,growth possible at a fast rate.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Let me ask you this so then you are able to go, how
were you able to transition fromNewberry right there to South
Carolina SEC school, power 5school, and you were a team
chaplain for Dave Odom, who wehave tremendous respect for the
listeners out there.
He is one of the most foremostcoaches.
He's a gentleman, a characterguy, don Staley, who just won
(12:16):
the national championship youcan smile on that, jack Easterby
.
Your school just won thenational championship and you
were entrusted with that.
How were you able to land onyour feet and endear yourself to
these leaders at South Carolina?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Yeah, so between my junior and senior year in
college, one of theorganizations that I had gotten
close with was Young Life, whichis a ministry that does great
work and specifically aparachurch ministry that I think
really takes careful attentionon evangelism of youth both in
high school and college.
(12:54):
And so one of the Young Lifeleaders I had gotten close with
had gotten a job with theJacksonville Jaguars and so he
invited me to come down thereand do an extended internship
with him and he served as amentor to me, and so when I got
done with school I'd done aninternship with Jacksonville and
then had kind of thoughtthrough okay, what's the right
(13:16):
next move for our family?
My grandmother had passed away,my grandfather was living by
himself, and so I went back,lived with my granddad and I got
a job at the University ofSouth Carolina in the academic
department and basically I wastutoring at night student
athletes.
I had always taken my academicsseriously and thought that it
was the right thing to do when Iwas in college, but they
(13:38):
offered opportunities at SouthCarolina, through relationships
I had just being from Columbia,for me to come in at night and
help tutor student athletes.
Well, naturally there was a fitwith the basketball team,
because I had just played and soliving with my granddad
tutoring student athletes atnight.
And after we got some reps withthe basketball team, you know,
coach Odom called me and, to hiscredit, he said hey, you know,
(14:00):
obviously our um group, ourbasketball team, is going to be
traveling throughout the year.
We need a tutor that willtravel with us um, and then
we'll also, you know, uh, helpour guys as we start getting
displaced from classes anddifferent things.
And so we went to the greatalaska shootout oh, I've been
there before.
Yeah, anchorage alaska I don'tknow, I don't, I don't know if
(14:22):
you uh remember or if I've toldyou this story, but so we, we go
to the great Alaska shootoutand I'm there as a tutor, as an
academic tutor, and um, coachOdom comes and says hey, it's
Thanksgiving, we want somebodyto do a devotion.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
We know your faith is really important to you.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Would you be willing to give us a little nugget, a
little devotion, a little 10minute thing just to say thank
you?
Uh, because we, you know it'sThanksgiving and we want, we're
away from our families and allthat, and so I got a chance to
give a devotion.
It just so happened that wasthe beginning of the tournament
and so Coach Odom said hey, onFriday, the day after
(15:03):
Thanksgiving, he said, hey, thatwent well yesterday, will you
do that again for us tomorrow?
Whoa, and I said, okay, sure,sure, I gotta go to the bullpen
and let me, let me do it again.
So anyway, okay, so thensubsequently, uh, I began to do
a devotion for every game beforethat and then we would have
about 20 to 25 of them I woulddo, and then the other 15 we
(15:28):
would invite guests to do.
Um, and we created a program tosupport the student athletes on
the basketball team that year.
That kind of grew out of thatand then coach said, hey, I'll
let you run my camps in thesummer.
I'm going to build a jobdescription.
And then he essentially made ajob for me out of the men's
basketball office at theUniversity of South Carolina in
2005.
(15:48):
Out of the men's basketballoffice at the University of
South Carolina in 2005.
So it was a really, really coolopportunity.
It was built out of justserving student athletes in the
academic center.
That evolved into a career anda job.
That was really fun as you know, college basketball is so fun
and traveling and competing andwatching people grow.
And then that year we actuallywon the NIT.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Yeah, back to back two years in a row.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I want to say yeah, yeah, so that was really fun.
So, yeah, it was a really coolstory, just out of serving those
guys in the academic center.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
You said a lot and again, this is what this show is
about Can do, can do the horseno one bet on.
Already you said, hey, I've gotto grind because mom and dad
love me, they're being honest.
It's just like my coach, likelook you're playing well, but
swing the basketball, you passsomebody.
But it's interesting where youwere aware of how you were
(16:41):
showing up and you needed togrind.
Where I'm going with this, jack, is it's fascinating where
preparation met opportunity,where you started out one as a
counselor, as a tutor, but thenthe opportunity you were
prepared when Coach Odom saidcan you encourage our guys?
(17:02):
So I want to say this Tell thelisteners about relationships
and preparation, because I knowyou're a big preparation guy.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, I think what is so crazy about all of
specifically sports, but reallyall of life, is that one of the
greatest constants is change,right Like.
Change is just it's happening,right it's.
Things are evolving, things arealways moving and so in order
for you to be able to move withchange or be prepared when an
(17:33):
opportunity comes your waybecause of change, you have to
naturally be so active every dayin reading, studying, praying,
knowing your surroundings,knowing the people that you're
working with or potentiallyhaving a great relationship
subset of people that you'reinteracting with, because,
frankly, you know you can'tcontrol the change and the way
(17:57):
things change, but you cancontrol how you respond to
change and, specifically in thatsituation, obviously athlete
support has changed dramaticallyover the last really two
decades.
Right, I mean, it used to behey, go to study hall, get your
work done and we'll see you atpractice.
And then obviously studentathlete services began to evolve
(18:19):
and there began to be moreneeds, needs and, to your point,
you know I was very fortunatebecause I knew, as an athlete,
that you know we all need peopleto come beside us and walk the
road with us, and do life withus, to help us, to encourage us.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
So relationships.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
I was fortunate.
I was fortunate to have both apassion for relationships and
what it meant to be a goodteammate.
But I was also there and awareof how these businesses were
changing and that the studentathlete platforms and student
athlete demands were going to goup and up, and so I think the
relationships we created atUniversity of South Carolina
(18:58):
were really unique because theywere birthed out of a movement,
frankly, that was coming from ahuge boom in college sports, and
yet for that to be in myhometown, obviously I was very
fortunate as well, because Iknew a lot of those people and
had runway with a lot of thepeople that were supporting the
university in different ways.
(19:20):
And so, yeah, I meanrelationships, you know, are so
important to all of us.
What you give, what you get,how you feel about yourself, how
you make other people feelRelationships are such a
currency.
There's such a currency and Ithink we all are probably a
(19:40):
product of the relationshipswe've had to this point, and we
will all probably be a productof the relationships that we had
to this point, and we will allprobably be a product of the
relationships that we continueto invest in over time.
So, yeah, I mean there's likeyou said, there's a lot there.
Those first early years werereally, for me, all about
relationships and people Ilearned from.
Like Coach Odom, I mean listen,I had never.
(20:02):
I didn't know which suit to wearto which occasion right, I
didn't know anything aboutdealing with the media, and I
tell this story a lot Like CoachOdom.
When he retired, he realizedthat the game was changing.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
And tell them who Coach Odom is real quick.
He was Tim Duncan's coach.
He was a celebrated, respected.
Give a little backdrop on that.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah.
So Dave Odom is one of the most, in my opinion, one of the most
um probably uh successfulmulti-tiered coaches in college
basketball history.
He started out as a high schoolcoach um goldsboro high,
several different umopportunities in the north
carolina, uh middle, middlenorth car Carolina area, really
(20:47):
during desegregation and,frankly, he advocated for racial
equality.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
He advocated for all people.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Just an amazing heart right, and that began to give
him opportunities to coachdifferent places.
Had a brief stint at EastCarolina and then had a huge
relationship with Ralph Sampsonat Virginia right.
So he goes to Virginia, becomesan assistant coach for Terry
Holland.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
We played against him .
That was my era.
That was my era.
I remember Coach Odomabsolutely.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
That's right.
So then obviously goes to Wakeand has so many Rodney Rogers
Tim Duncan has some greatrecruits there takes them into
the NCAA tournament.
You know Wake didn't have ahuge tradition at that time but
he developed an expectation forthem to be good and a lot of
those glory days of the ACCright when you had basically,
(21:39):
you know, eight to 10 teamsevery year that could compete,
uh, to get to the sweet 16 orbeyond.
So really cool.
His success in South Carolinareally stole him away from Wake
Forest because he had become,you know, the expectations had
gotten so high at Wake that youknow he had created sometimes
(22:01):
his own demise in some ways.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Oh, the expectation was so high.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yes, yes, yeah, so anyway.
So south carolina steals himaway, um, and you know, really
quickly created a success, asuccessful program at south
carolina, two in nitchampionships, ncaa birth right
off the bat, uh, which wasreally a blessing.
But when his career came to anend and I think this is really
(22:26):
interesting he talked a lotabout the relationships that had
meant a lot to him and he tolda story in his retirement speech
it's really cool about thegentleman from Arkansas that was
the door holder for the lockerroom and how important it was
for him when he used to go playat Arkansas and South Carolina
(22:48):
and Arkansas entered the SEC atthe same time, so there was a,
they were a partners in theschedule, so they were often
opponents.
And he told the story about howin his media press conference
of his retirement that you knowthere are all these people that
go into making a game possible,right.
From the recruiters, to theplayers, to even people who are
(23:12):
helping keep behind the scenesyes, you know, keeping the
locker room open, uh, andescorting him from the bus to
locker room.
So, anyway, I was able to learnfrom him a pretty much
everything that goes into asuccessful sports organization.
I saw him handle from mediascrutiny to recruiting, to
communication with AAU coaches,to communication with his own
(23:35):
staff, to his family, to raisingtwo great kids who would go on
to be coaches.
I saw a lot of that which I hadno precedent in my own family
for for that type of success,integrity and platform.
Coach and I went running everyday.
I would go over and meet at hishouse early in the morning and
he taught me anything from whatsuit to wear to how to tie
(23:57):
different ties to you know whereto where to go in the country
for certain things, andunderstand Tone, tact and timing
as well.
Yeah, yes, and so anyway, I givehim a lot of credit in those
early years, because I just comeback to the man he was and how
he led and just learned a lotfrom him.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Let me ask you this relationship was so big that now
the NFL is calling and I don'twant to go over that so fast the
NFL.
So is this a truism?
If you're faithful at little,you'll be faithful with much.
You were faithful with thoserelationships at Newberry and
now South Carolina.
That the NFL is calling andit's the Kansas City Chiefs, so
(24:39):
all of a sudden it's the NFL.
But then real life happens andyou were in the thrust of having
to navigate a heartbreakingexperience.
Tell us about Kansas City realquick.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Yes, so we were really fortunate at the end when
Coach Odom was in his last year, so he actually mentioned.
He said why don't we do a Biblestudy for all athletes on
campus?
Wow, wow, wow we started a Biblestudy where we would have all
of the athletes come to thefootball stadium and do a Bible
study once a week and we hadseveral people contribute
different athleticadministrators and coaches and
(25:12):
people and just kind of arallying point for the student
athletes during the week.
And one of the athletes thatcame to that was a young man
named Ryan Suckup, and Ryan wasour kicker, originally from
North Carolina and he wasdrafted Mr Irrelevant by the
Kansas City Chiefs and naturallywhen he went to Kansas City he
continued his impact and hisministry there through local FCA
(25:34):
and other people.
But he said hey, jack, wouldyou come out and speak to our
team and challenge our team?
And so he introduced me to thegeneral manager there, scott
Pioli, and they had not yetestablished their chaplaincy
character development programand so they allowed me to kind
of pilot some growthopportunities for them and to
(25:55):
create some onboarding systemsfor them and to help athletes
and people there as theyrelocated but also help them
with Saturday night chapels andspeaking to the young players
and things like that.
And so when we started thatprocess really I had I was very
naive to the level ofinteraction and the level of
(26:20):
just access that Scott and Ryanwould give me over the course of
the next two years and, man, itwas so impactful.
I learned so much.
There's so many of our friendsstill to this day that we have
that we made through Kansas Cityand through tough experiences
we went through there, but alsosome really good experiences,
some life change, some peoplethat really committed themselves
(26:43):
to doing what was right andthere were a lot of great people
hired in that organization thatreally committed themselves to
doing what was right.
And there were a lot of greatpeople hired in that
organization that really set thefoundation for who their
organization is now and howawesome they are now.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Well, also you talked about at the time.
I want to say you werecommuting, so Holly and the kids
were back in South Carolina andyou were commuting.
How was that grind?
How were you able to pull thatoff and still be in two places
at one time?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know if I did that well all the
time.
I know that I, you know a lotof early morning, late night
flights, a lot of.
I felt like at some points Iwas welcoming the flight
attendants on the plane, youknow, and they knew who I was
because it was the same flightsevery week.
But yeah, the plane, you knowand and they knew, they knew who
I was because it was the sameflights every week.
But yeah, no, it was.
I was really fortunate, reallyfortunate to have family support
(27:33):
but also to have the support,you know, at that time, of the
chief's organization to allow usto come in and serve them in
that way.
And, like you mentioned, I meanwe went through some tough stuff
there.
You know, unfortunately, we hada situation where, you know, a
young man made a bad mistake andI think that, although you know
(27:56):
we all wish that he was stillwith us and we wish that that
didn't happen, I do think a lotof great things came out of it.
I think that, you know, theorganization handled it really
really well.
I think the support staff wasthere for the players and I
thought the players ralliedaround each other and served
each other loved each other well, I loved his family well, and
(28:18):
so there were a lot of thingsthat, out of a quote bad,
challenging event, in some wayslife-changing event I do think
there was a catalyst for good.
There were things that came outthat were good lessons and
precedents within the NFL forservices for players, and things
that began to activate evenmore growth across the board
(28:43):
within services that are offeredto players to continue to help
them grow as people while theircareers are unfolding.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Yeah, now you talk about this.
So, where you're going througha heartbreaking loss of a player
, in that you're a young guy andyou're the character coach and
they are responding to you, howwere you able to navigate
compassion and what were youbecoming and learning about
yourself in trauma?
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Yeah, you know, at the time I'm not really sure.
Maybe, if I'm honest with you,if I knew everything that would
happen as a result of that,right, like you're really become
more of a listener thananything, right?
Um, we were blessed to bring insome really cool counseling
services that, I think, helpedsome of the players and the
families that that had greatrelationships, uh, with javon.
(29:36):
But we also, I think, were ableto listen to, um the hearts of
how connected that team was.
Um, even though maybe thesuccess on the field wasn't
quite what everybody wanted, umteam and the connection of a
team, uh, is still special.
Uh, there's a lot of time that'slost together, a lot of minutes
(29:57):
on a practice field, hours,days, months, um, where people
are committing to each other,given they're all for each other
, and so I think I just learnedthe value of listening.
You can't change right, there'sa lot of things you can't alter
.
There's no one liner, there'sno quick fix.
There's no, you know, onelittle box you can check to make
(30:18):
it feel better, to make it goaway, but you can listen and try
to lean in and hear the heartsof the people that may be
hurting or may be thriving,depending on the situation.
So I think I really learned thevalue of listening and then it
wasn't until later, I think,when we got to New England, I
myself really understood hey,wow, this was a lot that we went
(30:41):
through and some of thoselessons that we went through and
how they were going to informmy career but also inform how I
could help other people.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
You know it's interesting.
You're in demand now, soeverything you're touching has
been able to bear fruit NewberryCollege, south Carolina, kansas
City and some of the positivereforms.
And then, lo and behold, thebest of the best comes calling
Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.
(31:10):
Three Super Bowls in five years, four ACC championships.
My goodness, how did thathappen?
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Well, I was very fortunate that my relationship
with Kansas City, you know,persisted through the change
there.
You know, andy was hired and wasable to have a great rapport
with him and I had reallythought I would stay on with
Kansas City because I knewAndy's solid character, approach
and his desire for his playersto have what they needed.
(31:40):
And then that offseason, youknow, I got a call from Bill and
Bill and Andy are good friends.
And then that offseason, youknow, I got a call from Bill and
Bill and Andy are good friendsand he allowed me to go visit
with Bill and went and met withBill and Bill had a vision for a
role that would support him andthe staff in onboarding players
, equipping players andinspiring players to impact them
(32:02):
in a way that would help themnot only with what they were
doing on the field but off, andalso to connect the team more.
They had been through a toughsituation with one of their
teammates as well, and so insome ways, while I wasn't there
for that, I was picking up witha group of people that had been
through a lot and every teamgoes through a lot every year,
(32:22):
right, but the idea is, you know, their team had been through
some challenges that, um, Ithink were unique, and so, um
bill had a vision for the rolefor me to come into the patriots
and serve their group, um, andso we moved to foxborough,
massachusetts a little cold andwow, wow, what a blessing that
was.
Yeah, we had to go get somejackets.
(32:42):
That weather forecast was alittle bit different than South
Carolina, but, man, we were sofortunate by just the people we
met there just life-changingrelationships Matthew Slater and
Nate Solder and Devin McCourtyand you mentioned, tom and so
many other people that we metwhen we got there who were just
(33:04):
amazing humans.
I mean just absolutely awesomehumans, and you know this
because of your success inprofessional sports, adrian.
You really don't achieve thattype of you know, sustainable
success without having a lot ofhigh character people who know
what to do and can do itconsistently Right.
You know a lot of people knowwhat to do and they can't do it.
(33:25):
A lot of people can do it, butthey can't do it consistently
right.
You know a lot of people knowwhat to do and they can't do it.
A lot of people can do it, butthey can't do it consistently
right.
And if you have people who knowwhat to do and can do it
consistently, it just creates alot of trust and a lot of habits
that can be used under pressure.
And in that case, there wasjust an awesome nucleus of
humans that were in thatbuilding and that's a tribute to
(33:46):
ownership and and coachBelichick to get them all there
and we were blessed to reallyhelp serve that group as a lot
of awesome things unfolded.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Well, as I'm watching the process again.
So your reputation is growing.
I'm writing, wrote down somenotes.
The demand is growing and, stepby step, you're achieving.
So then the Houston Texans come, and it's a rapid rise.
But is this a true saying?
Every action has an equal andopposite reaction.
(34:17):
So, as you're being celebrated,there's also an undercurrent
that's saying hey, how is thisguy as a chaplain eventually
going to become a generalmanager and executive vice
president, director of footballoperations, one of the youngest?
Tell us about that experienceand that rapid rise.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
Yeah, well, you know, we had a great stretch when we
were in New England and wereally enjoyed every minute of
it.
And I would say, from thestandpoint of where we were
living there in Foxborough andthat region, how great that was
the success we had, how thatregion supports that team.
We enjoyed every minute of it.
My wife and I felt it was timeto move forward to a different
(34:59):
opportunity, a differentchallenge, and so I was familiar
with the Texans organization,obviously.
You know Bob McNair was a hugeGamecock.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
I was familiar with his overlap with our athletic
director, eric Hyman, when I wasat South Carolina, and so I
knew good things about theirorganization and knew they were
good people and so went down toHouston and, um, you know the
the things that we all aspire todo when we get to a place, um,
(35:32):
sometimes we get new informationOnce we get to that place.
I definitely, at each place Iwas uh fortunate to be at, I was
uh, you know, once you get kindof under the hood, if you will,
there's new information thatcomes right.
And so when we got to Houston,we loved living in Houston.
Houston was a great situationfor us as a family.
(35:54):
Our girls loved school there.
It was a really good school.
They went to First BaptistAcademy, which was a great
school, and so when we got there, obviously you know, a lot
changed and there was a lot oftransition and a lot of things
that went on, but we were sothankful for that and so
thankful for the time there, thelessons there, the opportunity
(36:16):
to serve there and a lot.
I mean, I think there is goingto be challenges, no matter what
you're doing, uh, when you tryto uh grow and evolve an
organization.
Um, sometimes those challengesare are things that are, um, you
know, easily changeable.
(36:37):
Sometimes those things are verydifficult to get changed and so
, um, again, we, we're sothankful for that.
And and really, uh, I thinkwhat I learned, uh more than
anything, was a lot of uh thingsthat I know I can do better, uh
as a leader.
Uh, when I look in the mirror,um, coming out of that
experience, um, I had a longlist of those uh, so that I can
(36:59):
reflect and be like, hey, theseare the things that, jack, you
need to do.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Continue to grow in so that you can serve whatever
group you lead next, you canserve them better, let's double
down for a second, jack, as muchas you can say, give us a, for
instance.
And I appreciate you saying,hey, I need to learn some things
, I need to step my game up onsome things.
And you know, when you and Italk, I always ask the question
(37:24):
do you like what you're becoming, do you like what you're
unbecoming?
So at the time, say that.
The time of your heartbreak,what was your mindset?
Take us through for thelistener out there that may have
had their heart broken, thatmay have had something accused
on them, whether it was right orwrong.
What was your self-talk like?
(37:46):
What were you inside your fourwalls of your mind when nobody
was around?
Speaker 2 (37:53):
Yeah, I think I really realized how much of the
world and so much of things thatwe are a part of every day that
are outside of our control.
I would say that was somethingthat I really realized.
Obviously, there's alwaysmargin of things, like I said,
that you can do better, andthere are certain things that
you say hey, you know what?
(38:13):
I fouled that pitch off.
But, there's a lot of thingsthat you can't control.
And I think what I thoughtabout often when I was by myself
, and still think about often,is how am I doing with the
things that I can control?
Because if the things we can'tcontrol take up a lot of our
mind space, then obviously thosethings are going to result in
(38:34):
all types of differentfrustrations for us, right,
because you know they're notgoing to turn out the way we
want, or there's going to getnegative feedback, or there's
going to be a lot of ups anddowns with those subject lines.
But you, if you really try tothink about how do you, what do
you control, then you can, youknow, get yourself back center
(38:54):
and be able to do what honorsGod and honors your family and,
hopefully, honors the group thatyou're with.
So I think it's that's the onethought I would say I thought a
lot about is what, what can Icontrol and what do I need to
make sure that I do today toalign with what I control?
And you know, again, like I say,I think there's certain things,
certain parts of that list thatyou execute real well because
(39:19):
you're focusing on that and youfeel good about it, and there's
other parts, that man, I controlthis, but I didn't do a great
job.
And so you learn and you growand you say all right, you know,
next time when I'm in controlof blank blank, I'm going to do,
you know, said activity better.
And so I think, though it'sreally, really, really I mean,
(39:48):
with the days of, obviously,social media and all the
different things that go on withthe media I think that you can
very easily gravitate a lot ofyour mental energy towards
things you don't control.
And I think that having themind discipline to say here's
what I control, and is it good,is it, is it excellent, is it is
it, you know, is itpraiseworthy?
Um, and if you do the thingsyou can control in that manner,
then usually it's going to workout.
Speaker 1 (40:07):
Well, now you part ways and then you're still in
demand.
So 2022, you're an independent,basically a free agent, and now
you sit on the board of a fewcompanies and then you started
your own, basically investmentgroup.
Who is Jack Easterby today andwhat are you doing today?
Because you're still in demand.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
Yeah, so I really felt like one of the tasks that
God had given me.
My last year in Houston was myparents had been both diagnosed
Alzheimer's and so.
I felt like it was somethingthat I needed to do to get back
to the East Coast and try tohelp care for them as best we
could.
(40:51):
I think I mentioned earlier Igot an awesome sister who's in
Columbia.
She's an accountant and just anawesome human, and so she had
really held the fort down whilewe were in Massachusetts and
then when we were in Houston,and so it felt like I needed to
get back to the East Coast.
So we moved to Charlotte and Iwas able to jump back and forth
from Columbia while getting myparents the care they needed.
(41:13):
And I think, as that hasunfolded, I've felt and thought
a lot about multi-generationalimpact, right, things my family
did for me, things I'm trying todo for my girls, and then also
the world around us, and beingclose to family and friends on
the East Coast has really beengood, and so we've been here.
(41:33):
We started a small privateequity fund that we've been
managing for a year and somechange, and then have still been
working in the sports scenewith a lot of friends and uh
relationships.
We had uh over the last yearand that's been really good, um,
and really excited about uhdifferent opportunities to learn
and to impact people and, likeI said, this is a little bit
(41:55):
more in the footprint of wherewe grew up and obviously having
tons of relationships in thisregion really helps.
And yeah, things are goingreally well heading into the
holidays here and I'm excitedabout some good time with family
as we wrap up 24.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
You know it's interesting.
I wrote down a couple of quotesthat you had.
Explain this one to me.
You talk about the cornerstoneof good leadership is creating
emotional stability.
What's that mean?
Speaker 2 (42:25):
Well, I think you know, every day has its own
events and I think that thoseevents naturally prompt our
emotions in different ways,right?
Sometimes things happen thatare unexpected, sometimes things
happen that are expected, and,in my opinion, whatever group
you're leading or whatever groupyou're trying to lead, there's
(42:47):
going to be an emotionalfracture that goes on in that
group based on unexpected eventsand expected events.
And so, as a leader, your goalis to provide emotional
stability for the group.
You know you can't obviously beinvolved in every single
person's life personally, butyou, as the leader, need to be
stable emotionally,understanding that in the
(43:10):
fractures that go on a dailybasis, people are going to be
looking to you for how torespond, how to react.
And so what I've kind of cometo and concluded after some
successes and some failures, hasbeen your ability to say, hey,
listen, I want to show up thesame way every day the same
energy every day, have the sameauthenticity and the same
(43:33):
empathy for others every day,you'll provide stability for
when those fractures happen.
People can get through them andyou can work through them and
massage the different challengestogether to hopefully build
unity amongst the group.
But if you're emotionally toofractured, then you yourself
(43:55):
can't lead and provide thatNorth Star that the people
around you need.
And so I think again, we livein a really emotionally unstable
world.
Right, things swing.
The pendulum is wide from,obviously, the different things
that are going on in our countryto just families and challenges
that we all have, and if youcan be water dripping on a rock
(44:18):
for others in the way that youcarry yourself, it may give them
some encouragement and somehope that they can get through
whatever they see is the bigrock in the way.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
Let me give you another one.
You said this we're all roughdrafts of the people we're
becoming.
What's that mean?
Speaker 2 (44:35):
Yeah, I tell you, I've written a lot of rough
drafts.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
I think I probably turned in some final drafts that
should have been rough drafts.
Speaker 2 (44:46):
We all grow every day .
Our circumstances, thesituations that we're in, we all
grow every day.
None of us are who we were andnone of us are who we're going
to be, and I think that whatI've begun to notice over the
years has been there's so manythings that are edited, you know
, out of our lives or sometimesneed to be removed out of our
(45:08):
lives to enable us to grow andto become something that we
didn't maybe see we could bewith that in our lives, and so,
whether that's, you know again,just habits or relationships or
disciplines, you know all of usare construction projects.
You know, so many times I feellike, you know, I sit in my
(45:29):
office in the mornings and I'llthink I need to get go get
yellow tape and just put it allover my desk because I feel like
you know you get a lot offeedback from your mistakes.
You know when you get somethingright.
You don't always get the samefeedback, but we all get a lot
of feedback from your mistakes.
You know, when you getsomething right you don't always
get the same feedback, but weall get a lot of feedback from
our mistakes.
And so we are all constructionprojects, we're all trying to
(45:50):
get better and improve, and themore you can edit and audit from
the feedback you get, thequicker you're going to grow.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
I hear brokenness.
I hear something that'srealistic.
When I hear speakers you and Iare privileged to be around
speakers and be speakers Ialways ask the question is that
sincere, Is that real?
And I hear the brokenness fromJack Easterby.
That's a good thing.
I'm going to ask one morequestion before we start to wrap
(46:17):
this up, One of my favoriteones.
That you say life is measuredby time, but experienced in
moments.
If I said that right, Tell usabout that one.
Speaker 2 (46:27):
Well, I would say, outside of the birth of your
kids, right, like if I said hey,ab, tell me when you guys won a
championship with the Lakers,you know what time was it on the
clock, right, you probably?
Speaker 1 (46:37):
wouldn't be able to tell me exactly what it was
probably 10 PMm or back then.
It's hammer time.
It's hammer time in the 80s.
Speaker 2 (46:45):
It was party time yeah so I think that if we all
look back on our lives, you knowwe don't necessarily know what
the clock said, but we rememberhow we felt, right.
We?
Remember who was in the roomand my thought has been that I
think a lot of times we measureour days, whether it's our
calendar, our lot of times wemeasure our days, whether it's
our calendar, our phones orwhatever.
(47:05):
We measure our days in timeminutes hours and all that.
But we remember our life inmoments, like I remember the
first time you talked to ourteam at the University of South
Carolina.
I remember that moment.
I remember the cafeteria wewere in.
I remember exactly where I satRight.
Wow, I remember where I waswhen, you know, malcolm Butler
intercepted the ball to beat theSeattle Seahawks at the last
(47:28):
played Super Bowl in Arizona.
So I think those things, in myopinion, inform a lot of our
emotions, positive and negative,about how we remember our lives
.
And so if we look forward, it'salways that time matrix.
But if we look backwards, man,it's usually the moments that we
have in our lives and thepeople that were a huge part of
(47:49):
those moments.
So I've always said like, hey,man, windshield, great, let's
look at time, how are we goingto use our time?
But, man, when you look back,gosh, it's all about moments and
how time stood still becauseyou had an amazing moment with a
friend, or amazing moment withyour teammates, or amazing
moment with a business that wasreally successful or had a big
(48:12):
event that happened.
So, yeah, life is, life, is man.
Life is so much measured intime, but it is remembered in
moments.
Speaker 1 (48:22):
Wow.
Well, jack, I'm going to put anexclamation point on that one
there.
This has been a moment for usand the listeners, and I want
you to give a nugget to thelisteners.
One more parting shot for JackEasterby.
How can you encourage someoneto keep climbing?
(48:42):
For that listener out there,what would you say?
After all these experiences theBill Belichick's, the
Superbowl's, the heartbreak, theaccusations you've been through
how could you encourage someoneto keep climbing?
Speaker 2 (48:57):
Yeah, I think a lot of our life we view through the
lens of where we are versuswhere we want to be, and I think
a lot of our life we viewthrough the lens of where we are
versus where we want to be, andI think a lot of times when you
evaluate your life that way,you only receive the negative
feedback right Like here I amtoday and here's where I want to
be in five years and I thinkthat naturally leads to you
receiving the negative, althoughyou're thinking about trying to
(49:18):
grow.
So I think the question becomeshow can we each day put in a
full day to be the best versionof who God made us to be?
And what I would challenge usall to do and I would challenge
any listener who's trying toevolve, grow, become better is
don't just view life throughwhere you want to be and what's
(49:40):
in the way of where you want tobe.
Life through where you want tobe and what's in the way of
where you want to be.
Don't view life through man, Iwant to be such and such, but I
can't do that until this.
Or I want to be this, but Ican't do that because of that,
because that's naturally goingto leave you with a negative
sentiment in your mind.
Right, you're naturally onlytaking away the thing that's in
(50:00):
between you and perceivedgreatness.
Really, just establish what afull day looks like, establish
what a full week looks like.
What's your absolute best, whatputs the nail all the way to
the floor for you doing yourabsolute best on what you've
been given that day, that week,that month.
And if you do your absolutebest, then you'll be shocked
what could happen as you stringthat together best.
(50:24):
Then you'll be shocked whatcould happen as you string that
together.
But I have found that there isjust masses of people right now
that are sitting in chairs orsitting in offices viewing their
life from where they are towhere they want to be, with
whatever obstacle in between thetwo, and that's what they think
about 90% of the time.
And so my thought would bedon't view it that way.
(50:44):
Don't think about hey, I'm herebut I can't get to there because
I don't have said you know,accelerator, or I don't have
said trampoline to jump on, tosee higher.
Don't do that.
Put in a full day, pull it.
Put in a full week.
Put in a full month.
Put in all of yourrelationships, all you got put
(51:05):
in it to people around you.
Just put the nail flush to theboard, give it all you got think
, read, pray, study, impact andthen watch what can happen, and
I think you'll be shocked whereit'll really end up, versus only
seeing it from where you are towhere you want to be and what
might be in the way of that.
Speaker 1 (51:25):
Beautiful.
Wow, jack, I'm full.
It's like a food buzz.
You've given us so many nuggets.
Delicious conversation.
Tell the list.
I want to thank the listenersout there.
I told you Jack Easterby hasbeen just an amazing man.
Tell us where the viewers, thelisteners, can find you.
Where can they?
Speaker 2 (51:48):
find you if they want to follow up on what you're
doing.
Well, our family's blessed tohave a foundation, the Greatest
Champion Foundation.
We founded in 2011 to begin toimpact character coaching around
the country, to buildcurriculums, to help support
coaches who want to do it theright way.
So we've got a great websitethere.
And then we're in Charlotte,north Carolina, and blessed to
(52:11):
be a part of the community offaith here, but also the
business community, the sportsbusiness community.
Have been blessed to see a lotof different people in this
region and, again, we're just sothankful for relationships with
people like yourself and otherswho are really getting up every
morning saying that they wantto make a difference.
Try to raise other people'slives and raise other people's
(52:31):
boats higher by interacting withothers the right way.
So thank you for yourfriendship and your love all
these years and support man.
It's really a blessing.
Speaker 1 (52:41):
Man, jack, thanks for coming on.
We salute you Outstanding.
I sure appreciate that Folks.
That's Jack Easterby and just awonderful man, and you just
heard it.
A lot of people talk but thisguy has something to say and
it's been so rich and just anordinary person who takes his
walk and humanity seriously.
(53:02):
Wow For my climbers out there.
Thanks for joining us today.
We're going to have someupcoming shows.
People that are just like JackEasterby, that's just got a
can-do spirit and we want you toconnect with that.
If you enjoyed today, we wantyou to look at
adrienbranchspeakscom, join uson social media at
adrienbranchespeakscom, join uson social media at Adrienne
(53:23):
Branch Speaks and also downloadthe Climb the name of the show,
the Climb where podcasts areavailable.
It's been a lot of fun.
We sure appreciate you guystoday and your time and for my
climbers my climbers, myclimbers, remember this be
encouraged and keep climbing.
Thanks everybody, thank you.
Hi, I'm Adrian Branch , former pro-athlete turned
motivational speaker andcertified life coach, and
welcome to the Climb, a showwhere we celebrate the stories
of resilient people sharing howthey turned adversity into
success, from the businesssector to athletes and beyond.
Be inspired and learn what ittakes to climb.
Hello everybody, I'm your host,adrian Branch, and welcome to
(00:30):
the Climb, a show, as we said,celebrates the resilience of
people and their stories ofovercoming potholes and
obstacles.
We want you to come away fromthis show saying if they can do
it, I can do it too.
If they can overcome, I canovercome as well.
Well, today our guest is aperson that fits that build.
His name is Jack Easterby, andhe is an amazing person.
(00:53):
You're going to hear his storyfrom the highest highs,
accomplishing with integrity andconsistency, and also with some
of life's challenges.
So Jack was one of the youngestvice presidents, executive vice
presidents in the NFL.
He's also been a charactercoach and chaplain.
So, without further ado, I wantto introduce a man well
(01:17):
respected by my entire familyJack Easterby.
Jacky, jack, how you doing.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Jacky.
Jack how you doing, what's up?
Ab how you doing.
Brother, man, what a specialhonor to be with you and to
celebrate what you're doing tomake a difference, man.
What a blessing.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Well, I want to be like you when I grow up.
Man, you have been soaccomplished and I'm so excited.
You impress our entire family,so I want to get right into it,
because your story is so richand so many experiences, and
this is what this show is.
We want these listeners outhere to identify with some of
these touch points.
So, jumping right into it, takeus back.
(01:54):
You're home, columbia, southCarolina, mom and dad, jimmy
Easterby, betsy, salt of theearth people but you started.
You had a fascinating story,starting at Newberry College.
Tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, so I was really blessed to have great family.
I have one sister and I grew upthere in Columbia and just
loved playing sports from ayoung age.
My dad worked at our church asa sports ministry director and
so, as you know, when you arethe son or the daughter of a
sports ministry director, youend up in the church gym a lot,
(02:29):
and so, from camps to clinics toyou know things that we did in
the community to leagues, ourfamily was very active in the
sports ministry scene inColumbia and so naturally, when
it was time to go to college, Ireally wanted to continue my
journey in sports.
I had played sports in highschool and enjoyed that.
(02:50):
Financially, our family reallyneeded to receive some
assistance to go to school, andso Newberry recruited me,
fortunately, to play both sports, both basketball and golf,
which was a unique combinationbetween those sports to kind of
two different demographics ofpeople, two different style
teams.
You know, one obviously has anindividual component, one has a
(03:12):
huge team component but wasfortunate to be OK at both, and
so Newberry offered me ascholarship to come there and
play both, and really coolexperience, because Newberry at
the time was experiencing adesire across the board to kind
of scale up their athleticdepartment, and so they really
invested in student athletes togive them better facilities,
(03:36):
obviously better financial aid,and then better coaches to try
to compete in the conference.
And so I was fortunate to getthere and we were at the dirt
underneath the totem pole whenwe started and then we, by the
end, were competing forchampionships in both sports.
So it was a really fun journey.
And being at a school with thatsize so Newberry was a little
(03:57):
over 1,000 when I was there gaveme great opportunity for
student-athlete leadership,student leadership in ministry
you know different ministryorganizations and also, just you
know, leadership opportunitieson campus right where you can
rally the students arounddifferent movements, different
events and try to serve thestudent body.
(04:18):
So I got a great chance earlyon to have reps in leadership,
whether that was things we weredoing in athletic department or
things we were doing campus-wide, and I feel like that really
began to formulate my desire tomake a difference through sports
.
And so Newberry, yeah, had agreat, awesome impact on me and
our beginning.
And then the best thing to comeout of Newberry is met my wife.
(04:42):
Oh okay, yeah, so she was therethere, uh, homecoming queen and
whoa up there.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Okay, I told you, I want to be you when I grow up.
I told you oh, I never knewthat.
I never knew you.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Two connected from college yes, so she was with the
fellowship of christianathletes here.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
She was actually um an officer with fca that's how
you were a Fellowship of theChristian Athlete of the Year on
campus.
Huh, that was the motivation.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
That's right.
That's right.
Yep Spent a lot more time therewhen she was leading.
But, yeah, really coolexperience.
And Newberry was a greatopportunity for me to really get
to know not only the value ofsports and the impact of the
college level, but also the waythat sports can lead you into a
career.
I was a sports management majorthere, so I got a chance to do
(05:32):
some internships and otherthings that led me into what I
would ultimately do from acareer perspective.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
I'd love to ask you this because you just mentioned
and I know you wouldn't say it,but I have some notes written
down Athlete of the Year,student Athlete of the Year in
the SAC back in 2005, men's GolfCharacter Award.
So you were really achieving.
My question is how were youable to keep your compass point
(05:59):
at North when at times, this isa whole talk by itself?
College is a time where peopleare really trying to identify
with identity.
They want to find their tribe,they want to find where they
belong.
How were you able to do thatconsistently and how were you
able to stay passionate aboutdoing what's right because it's
right and doing it right?
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Well, at Newberry I was really fortunate because a
lot of the people that weresurrounding us at Newberry the
other athletes that were onother teams and then those that
were with us in our SCA groupand, you know, I would say, the
student athlete success groupthey were all really doing
things for the first time, right, and so there was a lot of
people that were whether it waswinning the conference for the
(06:43):
first time, right, and so therewas a lot of people that were
whether it was winning theconference for the first time,
or you know, obviously theexpectations of the athletic
department were increasing andso we had a whole group that
were unified.
We would, we did Bible studiestogether, we obviously hung out
together, we trained together,and that was multiple sports.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
So it was positive peer pressure.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
It was a positive peer pressure I mean, you know
it was a lot about the companywe kept right, and so, you know,
honestly, I fell into some ofthat Tamir Zimmerman and several
other athletes that were therethat played different sports
where we would talk about goalsetting and, you know, hanging
out on the weekends anddifferent things that we would
(07:25):
do for our own sports and then,obviously, playing two sports.
I had two support systems, soyear round I was deviating in
and out of those two supportsystems and doing what we had to
do to train and compete forthose sports.
So you know, to be transparentwith you, ab, I didn't come up
with that Like.
That was really something thatyou know.
My compass was given to me bytwo really caring and loving
(07:47):
coaches and then also acommunity of people that wanted
to be successful, and so I fellinto that and then, as I matured
and my faith became really thecenter point of my entire life,
for me personally, that becamemy North Star and my decision
maker.
It's everything that we weredoing was to try to honor the
Lord, in addition to all thosepeople around us that were
(08:10):
really good humans.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
I found this.
This is what I alwaysappreciated about you.
I thought you had.
You always talk about IQ and EQand I thought it was balanced,
because I always saw you havingwisdom beyond your years, but
also you lived as if the boatwas burned.
So if it's going to be, it's upto me.
Tell us about that combinationwith IQ and EQ and the urgency
(08:34):
of wisdom and working hard totry to get what you want legally
and morally.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah.
So that's a great question.
I think, you know, I was reallyfortunate.
My parents gave me everythingfrom a standpoint of love and
truth and a biblical upbringing.
My parents gave me everythingfrom a standpoint of love and
truth and a biblical upbringing.
But there was, let's say,humble beginnings for the
Easterby family, meaning thatthere was, we didn't have a lot
of extra.
And so I knew, you know, when Iwent to school, really it was a
(09:01):
missional, you know, trip Right, it was a.
It was a hey, you're going nowto grow and achieve and you need
to get after it, becausethere's really not a whole lot
to come back to from astandpoint of you know, there
was no family business or anysort of headstart there.
I needed to go get after it.
And so I felt, like you know,when I got to college, the
(09:22):
intellectual curiosity ofunderstanding, like, hey, I got
to learn and grow because I gotto kind of make this work, was
always at the, always at thecenter point of my mind.
It was a healthy challenge formy parents.
I think, when you intersect loveand truth, where you're talking
about EQ and IQ, I think, whenyou intersect love and truth and
you tell people the truth butyou love them while you do it.
(09:43):
That expedites growth, and Iwould say my parents did a great
job expediting my growth bygiving me love and truth until I
got to college and then wasfortunate, when I got to
Newberry, that several coachesand again several of my athlete
constituents also did that.
Hey, let's love each other butlet's tell each other the truth,
and I think that grows both IQand EQ.
(10:04):
You can learn things, but ifyour emotions aren't strong
enough and you aren't loved wellenough, sometimes it's hard to
apply them Right.
And so I think that for me andfor my experience both in
college and then right out ofcollege, I think love and truth
was a huge part of the reason Ifelt comfortable going places
(10:24):
other people in my family hadn'tbeen yet.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Right.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
And I felt I felt love Right.
Other people in my familyhadn't been yet Right and I felt
I felt love right.
I felt like I had been lovedand I felt like I had been told
the truth, both good and bad,that some I didn't want to hear
and some I did want to hear.
Um, I remember, uh, one of my,one of my early days, uh, uh, is
a basketball player.
You know, when they re, yourealize your talent isn't going
to be as good and you're playingwith people that are better
(10:48):
than you now.
I remember my coach when Icrossed half one time in
practice.
He said hey, the best thing youcan do when you get the ball
crossed half is get it tosomebody else.
So I knew that my Bible studyleader at that point was our
basketball coach and so I knewhe loved me and he was telling
me the truth.
Get the ball to somebody elsewho can do something.
(11:10):
Okay, I didn't see that onecoming, jack, I didn't see that
one coming, wow so anyway,uh-huh, I say that to say you're
, when you have people aroundyou that care for you and also
tell you the truth, whether it'shard truth or just things that
you, you know, need to hearabout a circumstance, your iq
and your ecu right, your abilityto make the right decision
(11:31):
intellectually but alsoemotionally, process the right
emotions in the moment they bothgrow, and so I was fortunate
you know both again growing upand then in college, I think to
have both of those seeds plantedfirmly in my heart, in addition
to my faith that made, I think,growth possible at a fast rate.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Let me ask you this so then you are able to go, how
were you able to transition fromNewberry right there to South
Carolina SEC school, power 5school, and you were a team
chaplain for Dave Odom, who wehave tremendous respect for the
listeners out there.
He is one of the most foremostcoaches.
He's a gentleman, a characterguy, don Staley, who just won
(12:16):
the national championship youcan smile on that, jack Easterby
.
Your school just won thenational championship and you
were entrusted with that.
How were you able to land onyour feet and endear yourself to
these leaders at South Carolina?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Yeah, so between my junior and senior year in
college, one of theorganizations that I had gotten
close with was Young Life, whichis a ministry that does great
work and specifically aparachurch ministry that I think
really takes careful attentionon evangelism of youth both in
high school and college.
(12:54):
And so one of the Young Lifeleaders I had gotten close with
had gotten a job with theJacksonville Jaguars and so he
invited me to come down thereand do an extended internship
with him and he served as amentor to me, and so when I got
done with school I'd done aninternship with Jacksonville and
then had kind of thoughtthrough okay, what's the right
(13:16):
next move for our family?
My grandmother had passed away,my grandfather was living by
himself, and so I went back,lived with my granddad and I got
a job at the University ofSouth Carolina in the academic
department and basically I wastutoring at night student
athletes.
I had always taken my academicsseriously and thought that it
was the right thing to do when Iwas in college, but they
(13:38):
offered opportunities at SouthCarolina, through relationships
I had just being from Columbia,for me to come in at night and
help tutor student athletes.
Well, naturally there was a fitwith the basketball team,
because I had just played and soliving with my granddad
tutoring student athletes atnight.
And after we got some reps withthe basketball team, you know,
coach Odom called me and, to hiscredit, he said hey, you know,
(14:00):
obviously our um group, ourbasketball team, is going to be
traveling throughout the year.
We need a tutor that willtravel with us um, and then
we'll also, you know, uh, helpour guys as we start getting
displaced from classes anddifferent things.
And so we went to the greatalaska shootout oh, I've been
there before.
Yeah, anchorage alaska I don'tknow, I don't, I don't know if
(14:22):
you uh remember or if I've toldyou this story, but so we, we go
to the great Alaska shootoutand I'm there as a tutor, as an
academic tutor, and um, coachOdom comes and says hey, it's
Thanksgiving, we want somebodyto do a devotion.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
We know your faith is really important to you.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Would you be willing to give us a little nugget, a
little devotion, a little 10minute thing just to say thank
you?
Uh, because we, you know it'sThanksgiving and we want, we're
away from our families and allthat, and so I got a chance to
give a devotion.
It just so happened that wasthe beginning of the tournament
and so Coach Odom said hey, onFriday, the day after
(15:03):
Thanksgiving, he said, hey, thatwent well yesterday, will you
do that again for us tomorrow?
Whoa, and I said, okay, sure,sure, I gotta go to the bullpen
and let me, let me do it again.
So anyway, okay, so thensubsequently, uh, I began to do
a devotion for every game beforethat and then we would have
about 20 to 25 of them I woulddo, and then the other 15 we
(15:28):
would invite guests to do.
Um, and we created a program tosupport the student athletes on
the basketball team that year.
That kind of grew out of thatand then coach said, hey, I'll
let you run my camps in thesummer.
I'm going to build a jobdescription.
And then he essentially made ajob for me out of the men's
basketball office at theUniversity of South Carolina in
2005.
(15:48):
Out of the men's basketballoffice at the University of
South Carolina in 2005.
So it was a really, really coolopportunity.
It was built out of justserving student athletes in the
academic center.
That evolved into a career anda job.
That was really fun as you know, college basketball is so fun
and traveling and competing andwatching people grow.
And then that year we actuallywon the NIT.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Yeah, back to back two years in a row.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I want to say yeah, yeah, so that was really fun.
So, yeah, it was a really coolstory, just out of serving those
guys in the academic center.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
You said a lot and again, this is what this show is
about Can do, can do the horseno one bet on.
Already you said, hey, I've gotto grind because mom and dad
love me, they're being honest.
It's just like my coach, likelook you're playing well, but
swing the basketball, you passsomebody.
But it's interesting where youwere aware of how you were
(16:41):
showing up and you needed togrind.
Where I'm going with this, jack, is it's fascinating where
preparation met opportunity,where you started out one as a
counselor, as a tutor, but thenthe opportunity you were
prepared when Coach Odom saidcan you encourage our guys?
(17:02):
So I want to say this Tell thelisteners about relationships
and preparation, because I knowyou're a big preparation guy.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, I think what is so crazy about all of
specifically sports, but reallyall of life, is that one of the
greatest constants is change,right Like.
Change is just it's happening,right it's.
Things are evolving, things arealways moving and so in order
for you to be able to move withchange or be prepared when an
(17:33):
opportunity comes your waybecause of change, you have to
naturally be so active every dayin reading, studying, praying,
knowing your surroundings,knowing the people that you're
working with or potentiallyhaving a great relationship
subset of people that you'reinteracting with, because,
frankly, you know you can'tcontrol the change and the way
(17:57):
things change, but you cancontrol how you respond to
change and, specifically in thatsituation, obviously athlete
support has changed dramaticallyover the last really two
decades.
Right, I mean, it used to behey, go to study hall, get your
work done and we'll see you atpractice.
And then obviously studentathlete services began to evolve
(18:19):
and there began to be moreneeds, needs and, to your point,
you know I was very fortunatebecause I knew, as an athlete,
that you know we all need peopleto come beside us and walk the
road with us, and do life withus, to help us, to encourage us.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
So relationships.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
I was fortunate.
I was fortunate to have both apassion for relationships and
what it meant to be a goodteammate.
But I was also there and awareof how these businesses were
changing and that the studentathlete platforms and student
athlete demands were going to goup and up, and so I think the
relationships we created atUniversity of South Carolina
(18:58):
were really unique because theywere birthed out of a movement,
frankly, that was coming from ahuge boom in college sports, and
yet for that to be in myhometown, obviously I was very
fortunate as well, because Iknew a lot of those people and
had runway with a lot of thepeople that were supporting the
university in different ways.
(19:20):
And so, yeah, I meanrelationships, you know, are so
important to all of us.
What you give, what you get,how you feel about yourself, how
you make other people feelRelationships are such a
currency.
There's such a currency and Ithink we all are probably a
(19:40):
product of the relationshipswe've had to this point, and we
will all probably be a productof the relationships that we had
to this point, and we will allprobably be a product of the
relationships that we continueto invest in over time.
So, yeah, I mean there's likeyou said, there's a lot there.
Those first early years werereally, for me, all about
relationships and people Ilearned from.
Like Coach Odom, I mean listen,I had never.
(20:02):
I didn't know which suit to wearto which occasion right, I
didn't know anything aboutdealing with the media, and I
tell this story a lot Like CoachOdom.
When he retired, he realizedthat the game was changing.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
And tell them who Coach Odom is real quick.
He was Tim Duncan's coach.
He was a celebrated, respected.
Give a little backdrop on that.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah.
So Dave Odom is one of the most, in my opinion, one of the most
um probably uh successfulmulti-tiered coaches in college
basketball history.
He started out as a high schoolcoach um goldsboro high,
several different umopportunities in the north
carolina, uh middle, middlenorth car Carolina area, really
(20:47):
during desegregation and,frankly, he advocated for racial
equality.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
He advocated for all people.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Just an amazing heart right, and that began to give
him opportunities to coachdifferent places.
Had a brief stint at EastCarolina and then had a huge
relationship with Ralph Sampsonat Virginia right.
So he goes to Virginia, becomesan assistant coach for Terry
Holland.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
We played against him .
That was my era.
That was my era.
I remember Coach Odomabsolutely.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
That's right.
So then obviously goes to Wakeand has so many Rodney Rogers
Tim Duncan has some greatrecruits there takes them into
the NCAA tournament.
You know Wake didn't have ahuge tradition at that time but
he developed an expectation forthem to be good and a lot of
those glory days of the ACCright when you had basically,
(21:39):
you know, eight to 10 teamsevery year that could compete,
uh, to get to the sweet 16 orbeyond.
So really cool.
His success in South Carolinareally stole him away from Wake
Forest because he had become,you know, the expectations had
gotten so high at Wake that youknow he had created sometimes
(22:01):
his own demise in some ways.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Oh, the expectation was so high.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yes, yes, yeah, so anyway.
So south carolina steals himaway, um, and you know, really
quickly created a success, asuccessful program at south
carolina, two in nitchampionships, ncaa birth right
off the bat, uh, which wasreally a blessing.
But when his career came to anend and I think this is really
(22:26):
interesting he talked a lotabout the relationships that had
meant a lot to him and he tolda story in his retirement speech
it's really cool about thegentleman from Arkansas that was
the door holder for the lockerroom and how important it was
for him when he used to go playat Arkansas and South Carolina
(22:48):
and Arkansas entered the SEC atthe same time, so there was a,
they were a partners in theschedule, so they were often
opponents.
And he told the story about howin his media press conference
of his retirement that you knowthere are all these people that
go into making a game possible,right.
From the recruiters, to theplayers, to even people who are
(23:12):
helping keep behind the scenesyes, you know, keeping the
locker room open, uh, andescorting him from the bus to
locker room.
So, anyway, I was able to learnfrom him a pretty much
everything that goes into asuccessful sports organization.
I saw him handle from mediascrutiny to recruiting, to
communication with AAU coaches,to communication with his own
(23:35):
staff, to his family, to raisingtwo great kids who would go on
to be coaches.
I saw a lot of that which I hadno precedent in my own family
for for that type of success,integrity and platform.
Coach and I went running everyday.
I would go over and meet at hishouse early in the morning and
he taught me anything from whatsuit to wear to how to tie
(23:57):
different ties to you know whereto where to go in the country
for certain things, andunderstand Tone, tact and timing
as well.
Yeah, yes, and so anyway, I givehim a lot of credit in those
early years, because I just comeback to the man he was and how
he led and just learned a lotfrom him.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Let me ask you this relationship was so big that now
the NFL is calling and I don'twant to go over that so fast the
NFL.
So is this a truism?
If you're faithful at little,you'll be faithful with much.
You were faithful with thoserelationships at Newberry and
now South Carolina.
That the NFL is calling andit's the Kansas City Chiefs, so
(24:39):
all of a sudden it's the NFL.
But then real life happens andyou were in the thrust of having
to navigate a heartbreakingexperience.
Tell us about Kansas City realquick.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Yes, so we were really fortunate at the end when
Coach Odom was in his last year, so he actually mentioned.
He said why don't we do a Biblestudy for all athletes on
campus?
Wow, wow, wow we started a Biblestudy where we would have all
of the athletes come to thefootball stadium and do a Bible
study once a week and we hadseveral people contribute
different athleticadministrators and coaches and
(25:12):
people and just kind of arallying point for the student
athletes during the week.
And one of the athletes thatcame to that was a young man
named Ryan Suckup, and Ryan wasour kicker, originally from
North Carolina and he wasdrafted Mr Irrelevant by the
Kansas City Chiefs and naturallywhen he went to Kansas City he
continued his impact and hisministry there through local FCA
(25:34):
and other people.
But he said hey, jack, wouldyou come out and speak to our
team and challenge our team?
And so he introduced me to thegeneral manager there, scott
Pioli, and they had not yetestablished their chaplaincy
character development programand so they allowed me to kind
of pilot some growthopportunities for them and to
(25:55):
create some onboarding systemsfor them and to help athletes
and people there as theyrelocated but also help them
with Saturday night chapels andspeaking to the young players
and things like that.
And so when we started thatprocess really I had I was very
naive to the level ofinteraction and the level of
(26:20):
just access that Scott and Ryanwould give me over the course of
the next two years and, man, itwas so impactful.
I learned so much.
There's so many of our friendsstill to this day that we have
that we made through Kansas Cityand through tough experiences
we went through there, but alsosome really good experiences,
some life change, some peoplethat really committed themselves
(26:43):
to doing what was right andthere were a lot of great people
hired in that organization thatreally committed themselves to
doing what was right.
And there were a lot of greatpeople hired in that
organization that really set thefoundation for who their
organization is now and howawesome they are now.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Well, also you talked about at the time.
I want to say you werecommuting, so Holly and the kids
were back in South Carolina andyou were commuting.
How was that grind?
How were you able to pull thatoff and still be in two places
at one time?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know if I did that well all the
time.
I know that I, you know a lotof early morning, late night
flights, a lot of.
I felt like at some points Iwas welcoming the flight
attendants on the plane, youknow, and they knew who I was
because it was the same flightsevery week.
But yeah, the plane, you knowand and they knew, they knew who
I was because it was the sameflights every week.
But yeah, no, it was.
I was really fortunate, reallyfortunate to have family support
(27:33):
but also to have the support,you know, at that time, of the
chief's organization to allow usto come in and serve them in
that way.
And, like you mentioned, I meanwe went through some tough stuff
there.
You know, unfortunately, we hada situation where, you know, a
young man made a bad mistake andI think that, although you know
(27:56):
we all wish that he was stillwith us and we wish that that
didn't happen, I do think a lotof great things came out of it.
I think that, you know, theorganization handled it really
really well.
I think the support staff wasthere for the players and I
thought the players ralliedaround each other and served
each other loved each other well, I loved his family well, and
(28:18):
so there were a lot of thingsthat, out of a quote bad,
challenging event, in some wayslife-changing event I do think
there was a catalyst for good.
There were things that came outthat were good lessons and
precedents within the NFL forservices for players, and things
that began to activate evenmore growth across the board
(28:43):
within services that are offeredto players to continue to help
them grow as people while theircareers are unfolding.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Yeah, now you talk about this.
So, where you're going througha heartbreaking loss of a player
, in that you're a young guy andyou're the character coach and
they are responding to you, howwere you able to navigate
compassion and what were youbecoming and learning about
yourself in trauma?
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Yeah, you know, at the time I'm not really sure.
Maybe, if I'm honest with you,if I knew everything that would
happen as a result of that,right, like you're really become
more of a listener thananything, right?
Um, we were blessed to bring insome really cool counseling
services that, I think, helpedsome of the players and the
families that that had greatrelationships, uh, with javon.
(29:36):
But we also, I think, were ableto listen to, um the hearts of
how connected that team was.
Um, even though maybe thesuccess on the field wasn't
quite what everybody wanted, umteam and the connection of a
team, uh, is still special.
Uh, there's a lot of time that'slost together, a lot of minutes
(29:57):
on a practice field, hours,days, months, um, where people
are committing to each other,given they're all for each other
, and so I think I just learnedthe value of listening.
You can't change right, there'sa lot of things you can't alter
.
There's no one liner, there'sno quick fix.
There's no, you know, onelittle box you can check to make
(30:18):
it feel better, to make it goaway, but you can listen and try
to lean in and hear the heartsof the people that may be
hurting or may be thriving,depending on the situation.
So I think I really learned thevalue of listening and then it
wasn't until later, I think,when we got to New England, I
myself really understood hey,wow, this was a lot that we went
(30:41):
through and some of thoselessons that we went through and
how they were going to informmy career but also inform how I
could help other people.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
You know it's interesting.
You're in demand now, soeverything you're touching has
been able to bear fruit NewberryCollege, south Carolina, kansas
City and some of the positivereforms.
And then, lo and behold, thebest of the best comes calling
Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.
(31:10):
Three Super Bowls in five years, four ACC championships.
My goodness, how did thathappen?
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Well, I was very fortunate that my relationship
with Kansas City, you know,persisted through the change
there.
You know, andy was hired and wasable to have a great rapport
with him and I had reallythought I would stay on with
Kansas City because I knewAndy's solid character, approach
and his desire for his playersto have what they needed.
(31:40):
And then that offseason, youknow, I got a call from Bill and
Bill and Andy are good friends.
And then that offseason, youknow, I got a call from Bill and
Bill and Andy are good friendsand he allowed me to go visit
with Bill and went and met withBill and Bill had a vision for a
role that would support him andthe staff in onboarding players
, equipping players andinspiring players to impact them
(32:02):
in a way that would help themnot only with what they were
doing on the field but off, andalso to connect the team more.
They had been through a toughsituation with one of their
teammates as well, and so insome ways, while I wasn't there
for that, I was picking up witha group of people that had been
through a lot and every teamgoes through a lot every year,
(32:22):
right, but the idea is, you know, their team had been through
some challenges that, um, Ithink were unique, and so, um
bill had a vision for the rolefor me to come into the patriots
and serve their group, um, andso we moved to foxborough,
massachusetts a little cold andwow, wow, what a blessing that
was.
Yeah, we had to go get somejackets.
(32:42):
That weather forecast was alittle bit different than South
Carolina, but, man, we were sofortunate by just the people we
met there just life-changingrelationships Matthew Slater and
Nate Solder and Devin McCourtyand you mentioned, tom and so
many other people that we metwhen we got there who were just
(33:04):
amazing humans.
I mean just absolutely awesomehumans, and you know this
because of your success inprofessional sports, adrian.
You really don't achieve thattype of you know, sustainable
success without having a lot ofhigh character people who know
what to do and can do itconsistently Right.
You know a lot of people knowwhat to do and they can't do it.
(33:25):
A lot of people can do it, butthey can't do it consistently
right.
You know a lot of people knowwhat to do and they can't do it.
A lot of people can do it, butthey can't do it consistently
right.
And if you have people who knowwhat to do and can do it
consistently, it just creates alot of trust and a lot of habits
that can be used under pressure.
And in that case, there wasjust an awesome nucleus of
humans that were in thatbuilding and that's a tribute to
(33:46):
ownership and and coachBelichick to get them all there
and we were blessed to reallyhelp serve that group as a lot
of awesome things unfolded.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Well, as I'm watching the process again.
So your reputation is growing.
I'm writing, wrote down somenotes.
The demand is growing and, stepby step, you're achieving.
So then the Houston Texans come, and it's a rapid rise.
But is this a true saying?
Every action has an equal andopposite reaction.
(34:17):
So, as you're being celebrated,there's also an undercurrent
that's saying hey, how is thisguy as a chaplain eventually
going to become a generalmanager and executive vice
president, director of footballoperations, one of the youngest?
Tell us about that experienceand that rapid rise.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
Yeah, well, you know, we had a great stretch when we
were in New England and wereally enjoyed every minute of
it.
And I would say, from thestandpoint of where we were
living there in Foxborough andthat region, how great that was
the success we had, how thatregion supports that team.
We enjoyed every minute of it.
My wife and I felt it was timeto move forward to a different
(34:59):
opportunity, a differentchallenge, and so I was familiar
with the Texans organization,obviously.
You know Bob McNair was a hugeGamecock.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
I was familiar with his overlap with our athletic
director, eric Hyman, when I wasat South Carolina, and so I
knew good things about theirorganization and knew they were
good people and so went down toHouston and, um, you know the
the things that we all aspire todo when we get to a place, um,
(35:32):
sometimes we get new informationOnce we get to that place.
I definitely, at each place Iwas uh fortunate to be at, I was
uh, you know, once you get kindof under the hood, if you will,
there's new information thatcomes right.
And so when we got to Houston,we loved living in Houston.
Houston was a great situationfor us as a family.
(35:54):
Our girls loved school there.
It was a really good school.
They went to First BaptistAcademy, which was a great
school, and so when we got there, obviously you know, a lot
changed and there was a lot oftransition and a lot of things
that went on, but we were sothankful for that and so
thankful for the time there, thelessons there, the opportunity
(36:16):
to serve there and a lot.
I mean, I think there is goingto be challenges, no matter what
you're doing, uh, when you tryto uh grow and evolve an
organization.
Um, sometimes those challengesare are things that are, um, you
know, easily changeable.
(36:37):
Sometimes those things are verydifficult to get changed and so
, um, again, we, we're sothankful for that.
And and really, uh, I thinkwhat I learned, uh more than
anything, was a lot of uh thingsthat I know I can do better, uh
as a leader.
Uh, when I look in the mirror,um, coming out of that
experience, um, I had a longlist of those uh, so that I can
(36:59):
reflect and be like, hey, theseare the things that, jack, you
need to do.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Continue to grow in so that you can serve whatever
group you lead next, you canserve them better, let's double
down for a second, jack, as muchas you can say, give us a, for
instance.
And I appreciate you saying,hey, I need to learn some things
, I need to step my game up onsome things.
And you know, when you and Italk, I always ask the question
(37:24):
do you like what you're becoming, do you like what you're
unbecoming?
So at the time, say that.
The time of your heartbreak,what was your mindset?
Take us through for thelistener out there that may have
had their heart broken, thatmay have had something accused
on them, whether it was right orwrong.
What was your self-talk like?
(37:46):
What were you inside your fourwalls of your mind when nobody
was around?
Speaker 2 (37:53):
Yeah, I think I really realized how much of the
world and so much of things thatwe are a part of every day that
are outside of our control.
I would say that was somethingthat I really realized.
Obviously, there's alwaysmargin of things, like I said,
that you can do better, andthere are certain things that
you say hey, you know what?
(38:13):
I fouled that pitch off.
But, there's a lot of thingsthat you can't control.
And I think what I thoughtabout often when I was by myself
, and still think about often,is how am I doing with the
things that I can control?
Because if the things we can'tcontrol take up a lot of our
mind space, then obviously thosethings are going to result in
(38:34):
all types of differentfrustrations for us, right,
because you know they're notgoing to turn out the way we
want, or there's going to getnegative feedback, or there's
going to be a lot of ups anddowns with those subject lines.
But you, if you really try tothink about how do you, what do
you control, then you can, youknow, get yourself back center
(38:54):
and be able to do what honorsGod and honors your family and,
hopefully, honors the group thatyou're with.
So I think it's that's the onethought I would say I thought a
lot about is what, what can Icontrol and what do I need to
make sure that I do today toalign with what I control?
And you know, again, like I say,I think there's certain things,
certain parts of that list thatyou execute real well because
(39:19):
you're focusing on that and youfeel good about it, and there's
other parts, that man, I controlthis, but I didn't do a great
job.
And so you learn and you growand you say all right, you know,
next time when I'm in controlof blank blank, I'm going to do,
you know, said activity better.
And so I think, though it'sreally, really, really I mean,
(39:48):
with the days of, obviously,social media and all the
different things that go on withthe media I think that you can
very easily gravitate a lot ofyour mental energy towards
things you don't control.
And I think that having themind discipline to say here's
what I control, and is it good,is it, is it excellent, is it is
it, you know, is itpraiseworthy?
Um, and if you do the thingsyou can control in that manner,
then usually it's going to workout.
Speaker 1 (40:07):
Well, now you part ways and then you're still in
demand.
So 2022, you're an independent,basically a free agent, and now
you sit on the board of a fewcompanies and then you started
your own, basically investmentgroup.
Who is Jack Easterby today andwhat are you doing today?
Because you're still in demand.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
Yeah, so I really felt like one of the tasks that
God had given me.
My last year in Houston was myparents had been both diagnosed
Alzheimer's and so.
I felt like it was somethingthat I needed to do to get back
to the East Coast and try tohelp care for them as best we
could.
(40:51):
I think I mentioned earlier Igot an awesome sister who's in
Columbia.
She's an accountant and just anawesome human, and so she had
really held the fort down whilewe were in Massachusetts and
then when we were in Houston,and so it felt like I needed to
get back to the East Coast.
So we moved to Charlotte and Iwas able to jump back and forth
from Columbia while getting myparents the care they needed.
(41:13):
And I think, as that hasunfolded, I've felt and thought
a lot about multi-generationalimpact, right, things my family
did for me, things I'm trying todo for my girls, and then also
the world around us, and beingclose to family and friends on
the East Coast has really beengood, and so we've been here.
(41:33):
We started a small privateequity fund that we've been
managing for a year and somechange, and then have still been
working in the sports scenewith a lot of friends and uh
relationships.
We had uh over the last yearand that's been really good, um,
and really excited about uhdifferent opportunities to learn
and to impact people and, likeI said, this is a little bit
(41:55):
more in the footprint of wherewe grew up and obviously having
tons of relationships in thisregion really helps.
And yeah, things are goingreally well heading into the
holidays here and I'm excitedabout some good time with family
as we wrap up 24.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
You know it's interesting.
I wrote down a couple of quotesthat you had.
Explain this one to me.
You talk about the cornerstoneof good leadership is creating
emotional stability.
What's that mean?
Speaker 2 (42:25):
Well, I think you know, every day has its own
events and I think that thoseevents naturally prompt our
emotions in different ways,right?
Sometimes things happen thatare unexpected, sometimes things
happen that are expected, and,in my opinion, whatever group
you're leading or whatever groupyou're trying to lead, there's
(42:47):
going to be an emotionalfracture that goes on in that
group based on unexpected eventsand expected events.
And so, as a leader, your goalis to provide emotional
stability for the group.
You know you can't obviously beinvolved in every single
person's life personally, butyou, as the leader, need to be
stable emotionally,understanding that in the
(43:10):
fractures that go on a dailybasis, people are going to be
looking to you for how torespond, how to react.
And so what I've kind of cometo and concluded after some
successes and some failures, hasbeen your ability to say, hey,
listen, I want to show up thesame way every day the same
energy every day, have the sameauthenticity and the same
(43:33):
empathy for others every day,you'll provide stability for
when those fractures happen.
People can get through them andyou can work through them and
massage the different challengestogether to hopefully build
unity amongst the group.
But if you're emotionally toofractured, then you yourself
(43:55):
can't lead and provide thatNorth Star that the people
around you need.
And so I think again, we livein a really emotionally unstable
world.
Right, things swing.
The pendulum is wide from,obviously, the different things
that are going on in our countryto just families and challenges
that we all have, and if youcan be water dripping on a rock
(44:18):
for others in the way that youcarry yourself, it may give them
some encouragement and somehope that they can get through
whatever they see is the bigrock in the way.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
Let me give you another one.
You said this we're all roughdrafts of the people we're
becoming.
What's that mean?
Speaker 2 (44:35):
Yeah, I tell you, I've written a lot of rough
drafts.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
I think I probably turned in some final drafts that
should have been rough drafts.
Speaker 2 (44:46):
We all grow every day .
Our circumstances, thesituations that we're in, we all
grow every day.
None of us are who we were andnone of us are who we're going
to be, and I think that whatI've begun to notice over the
years has been there's so manythings that are edited, you know
, out of our lives or sometimesneed to be removed out of our
(45:08):
lives to enable us to grow andto become something that we
didn't maybe see we could bewith that in our lives, and so,
whether that's, you know again,just habits or relationships or
disciplines, you know all of usare construction projects.
You know, so many times I feellike, you know, I sit in my
(45:29):
office in the mornings and I'llthink I need to get go get
yellow tape and just put it allover my desk because I feel like
you know you get a lot offeedback from your mistakes.
You know when you get somethingright.
You don't always get the samefeedback, but we all get a lot
of feedback from your mistakes.
You know, when you getsomething right you don't always
get the same feedback, but weall get a lot of feedback from
our mistakes.
And so we are all constructionprojects, we're all trying to
(45:50):
get better and improve, and themore you can edit and audit from
the feedback you get, thequicker you're going to grow.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
I hear brokenness.
I hear something that'srealistic.
When I hear speakers you and Iare privileged to be around
speakers and be speakers Ialways ask the question is that
sincere, Is that real?
And I hear the brokenness fromJack Easterby.
That's a good thing.
I'm going to ask one morequestion before we start to wrap
(46:17):
this up, One of my favoriteones.
That you say life is measuredby time, but experienced in
moments.
If I said that right, Tell usabout that one.
Speaker 2 (46:27):
Well, I would say, outside of the birth of your
kids, right, like if I said hey,ab, tell me when you guys won a
championship with the Lakers,you know what time was it on the
clock, right, you probably?
Speaker 1 (46:37):
wouldn't be able to tell me exactly what it was
probably 10 PMm or back then.
It's hammer time.
It's hammer time in the 80s.
Speaker 2 (46:45):
It was party time yeah so I think that if we all
look back on our lives, you knowwe don't necessarily know what
the clock said, but we rememberhow we felt, right.
We?
Remember who was in the roomand my thought has been that I
think a lot of times we measureour days, whether it's our
calendar, our lot of times wemeasure our days, whether it's
our calendar, our phones orwhatever.
(47:05):
We measure our days in timeminutes hours and all that.
But we remember our life inmoments, like I remember the
first time you talked to ourteam at the University of South
Carolina.
I remember that moment.
I remember the cafeteria wewere in.
I remember exactly where I satRight.
Wow, I remember where I waswhen, you know, malcolm Butler
intercepted the ball to beat theSeattle Seahawks at the last
(47:28):
played Super Bowl in Arizona.
So I think those things, in myopinion, inform a lot of our
emotions, positive and negative,about how we remember our lives
.
And so if we look forward, it'salways that time matrix.
But if we look backwards, man,it's usually the moments that we
have in our lives and thepeople that were a huge part of
(47:49):
those moments.
So I've always said like, hey,man, windshield, great, let's
look at time, how are we goingto use our time?
But, man, when you look back,gosh, it's all about moments and
how time stood still becauseyou had an amazing moment with a
friend, or amazing moment withyour teammates, or amazing
moment with a business that wasreally successful or had a big
(48:12):
event that happened.
So, yeah, life is, life, is man.
Life is so much measured intime, but it is remembered in
moments.
Speaker 1 (48:22):
Wow.
Well, jack, I'm going to put anexclamation point on that one
there.
This has been a moment for usand the listeners, and I want
you to give a nugget to thelisteners.
One more parting shot for JackEasterby.
How can you encourage someoneto keep climbing?
(48:42):
For that listener out there,what would you say?
After all these experiences theBill Belichick's, the
Superbowl's, the heartbreak, theaccusations you've been through
how could you encourage someoneto keep climbing?
Speaker 2 (48:57):
Yeah, I think a lot of our life we view through the
lens of where we are versuswhere we want to be, and I think
a lot of our life we viewthrough the lens of where we are
versus where we want to be, andI think a lot of times when you
evaluate your life that way,you only receive the negative
feedback right Like here I amtoday and here's where I want to
be in five years and I thinkthat naturally leads to you
receiving the negative, althoughyou're thinking about trying to
(49:18):
grow.
So I think the question becomeshow can we each day put in a
full day to be the best versionof who God made us to be?
And what I would challenge usall to do and I would challenge
any listener who's trying toevolve, grow, become better is
don't just view life throughwhere you want to be and what's
(49:40):
in the way of where you want tobe.
Life through where you want tobe and what's in the way of
where you want to be.
Don't view life through man, Iwant to be such and such, but I
can't do that until this.
Or I want to be this, but Ican't do that because of that,
because that's naturally goingto leave you with a negative
sentiment in your mind.
Right, you're naturally onlytaking away the thing that's in
(50:00):
between you and perceivedgreatness.
Really, just establish what afull day looks like, establish
what a full week looks like.
What's your absolute best, whatputs the nail all the way to
the floor for you doing yourabsolute best on what you've
been given that day, that week,that month.
And if you do your absolutebest, then you'll be shocked
what could happen as you stringthat together best.
(50:24):
Then you'll be shocked whatcould happen as you string that
together.
But I have found that there isjust masses of people right now
that are sitting in chairs orsitting in offices viewing their
life from where they are towhere they want to be, with
whatever obstacle in between thetwo, and that's what they think
about 90% of the time.
And so my thought would bedon't view it that way.
(50:44):
Don't think about hey, I'm herebut I can't get to there because
I don't have said you know,accelerator, or I don't have
said trampoline to jump on, tosee higher.
Don't do that.
Put in a full day, pull it.
Put in a full week.
Put in a full month.
Put in all of yourrelationships, all you got put
(51:05):
in it to people around you.
Just put the nail flush to theboard, give it all you got think
, read, pray, study, impact andthen watch what can happen, and
I think you'll be shocked whereit'll really end up, versus only
seeing it from where you are towhere you want to be and what
might be in the way of that.
Speaker 1 (51:25):
Beautiful.
Wow, jack, I'm full.
It's like a food buzz.
You've given us so many nuggets.
Delicious conversation.
Tell the list.
I want to thank the listenersout there.
I told you Jack Easterby hasbeen just an amazing man.
Tell us where the viewers, thelisteners, can find you.
Where can they?
Speaker 2 (51:48):
find you if they want to follow up on what you're
doing.
Well, our family's blessed tohave a foundation, the Greatest
Champion Foundation.
We founded in 2011 to begin toimpact character coaching around
the country, to buildcurriculums, to help support
coaches who want to do it theright way.
So we've got a great websitethere.
And then we're in Charlotte,north Carolina, and blessed to
(52:11):
be a part of the community offaith here, but also the
business community, the sportsbusiness community.
Have been blessed to see a lotof different people in this
region and, again, we're just sothankful for relationships with
people like yourself and otherswho are really getting up every
morning saying that they wantto make a difference.
Try to raise other people'slives and raise other people's
(52:31):
boats higher by interacting withothers the right way.
So thank you for yourfriendship and your love all
these years and support man.
It's really a blessing.
Speaker 1 (52:41):
Man, jack, thanks for coming on.
We salute you Outstanding.
I sure appreciate that Folks.
That's Jack Easterby and just awonderful man, and you just
heard it.
A lot of people talk but thisguy has something to say and
it's been so rich and just anordinary person who takes his
walk and humanity seriously.
(53:02):
Wow For my climbers out there.
Thanks for joining us today.
We're going to have someupcoming shows.
People that are just like JackEasterby, that's just got a
can-do spirit and we want you toconnect with that.
If you enjoyed today, we wantyou to look at
adrienbranchspeakscom, join uson social media at
adrienbranchespeakscom, join uson social media at Adrienne
(53:23):
Branch Speaks and also downloadthe Climb the name of the show,
the Climb where podcasts areavailable.
It's been a lot of fun.
We sure appreciate you guystoday and your time and for my
climbers my climbers, myclimbers, remember this be
encouraged and keep climbing.
Thanks everybody, thank you.
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