The Klimb with Adrian Branch
Inspirational podcast hosted by former pro athlete turned high-performance consultant, interviewing a broad range of guests sharing their stories of resilience and encouragement.
The Klimb with Adrian Branch
The Klimb: Jack Easterby on Leadership, Resilience, and Finding Purpose
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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.
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Introduction to Jack Easterby
Speaker 1Hi , I'm Adrian Branch , former pro-athlete turned motivational speaker and certified life coach , and welcome to the Climb , a show where we celebrate the stories of resilient people sharing how they turned adversity into success , from the business sector to athletes and beyond . Be inspired and learn what it takes to climb . Hello everybody , I'm your host , adrian Branch , and welcome to the Climb , a show , as we said , celebrates the resilience of people and their stories of overcoming potholes and obstacles . We want you to come away from this show saying if they can do it , I can do it too . If they can overcome , I can overcome as well .
Speaker 1Well , today our guest is a person that fits that build . His name is Jack Easterby , and he is an amazing person . You're going to hear his story from the highest highs , accomplishing with integrity and consistency , and also with some of life's challenges . So Jack was one of the youngest vice presidents , executive vice presidents in the NFL . He's also been a character coach and chaplain . So , without further ado , I want to introduce a man well respected by my entire family Jack Easterby . Jacky , jack , how you doing .
Speaker 2Jacky . Jack how you doing , what's up ? Ab how you doing . Brother , man , what a special honor to be with you and to celebrate what you're doing to make a difference , man . What a blessing .
Speaker 1Well , I want to be like you when I grow up . Man , you have been so accomplished and I'm so excited . You impress our entire family , so I want to get right into it , because your story is so rich and so many experiences , and this is what this show is . We want these listeners out here to identify with some of these touch points . So , jumping right into it , take us back . You're home , columbia , south Carolina , mom and dad , jimmy Easterby , betsy , salt of the earth people but you started . You had a fascinating story , starting at Newberry College . Tell us about that .
College Years at Newberry
Speaker 2Yeah , so I was really blessed to have great family . I have one sister and I grew up there in Columbia and just loved playing sports from a young age . My dad worked at our church as a sports ministry director and so , as you know , when you are the son or the daughter of a sports ministry director , you end up in the church gym a lot , and so , from camps to clinics to you know things that we did in the community to leagues , our family was very active in the sports ministry scene in Columbia and so naturally , when it was time to go to college , I really wanted to continue my journey in sports . I had played sports in high school and enjoyed that .
Speaker 2Financially , our family really needed to receive some assistance to go to school , and so Newberry recruited me , fortunately , to play both sports , both basketball and golf , which was a unique combination between those sports to kind of two different demographics of people , two different style teams .
Speaker 2You know , one obviously has an individual component , one has a huge team component but was fortunate to be OK at both , and so Newberry offered me a scholarship to come there and play both , and really cool experience , because Newberry at the time was experiencing a desire across the board to kind of scale up their athletic department , and so they really invested in student athletes to give them better facilities , obviously better financial aid , and then better coaches to try to compete in the conference .
Speaker 2And so I was fortunate to get there and we were at the dirt underneath the totem pole when we started and then we , by the end , were competing for championships in both sports . So it was a really fun journey . And being at a school with that size so Newberry was a little over 1,000 when I was there gave me great opportunity for student-athlete leadership , student leadership in ministry you know different ministry organizations and also , just you know , leadership opportunities on campus right where you can rally the students around different movements , different events and try to serve the student body . So I got a great chance early on to have reps in leadership , whether that was things we were doing in athletic department or things we were doing campus-wide , and I feel like that really began to formulate my desire to make a difference through sports . And so Newberry , yeah , had a great , awesome impact on me and our beginning . And then the best thing to come out of Newberry is met my wife .
Speaker 2Oh okay , yeah , so she was there there , uh , homecoming queen and whoa up there .
Speaker 1Okay , I told you , I want to be you when I grow up . I told you oh , I never knew that . I never knew you .
Speaker 2Two connected from college yes , so she was with the fellowship of christian athletes here .
Speaker 1She was actually um an officer with fca that's how you were a Fellowship of the Christian Athlete of the Year on campus . Huh , that was the motivation .
Speaker 2That's right . That's right . Yep Spent a lot more time there when she was leading . But , yeah , really cool experience . And Newberry was a great opportunity for me to really get to know not only the value of sports and the impact of the college level , but also the way that sports can lead you into a career . I was a sports management major there , so I got a chance to do some internships and other things that led me into what I would ultimately do from a career perspective .
Speaker 1I'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 Golf Character Award . So you were really achieving . My question is how were you able to keep your compass point at North when at times , this is a whole talk by itself ? College is a time where people are 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 that consistently and how were you able to stay passionate about doing what's right because it's right and doing it right ?
Speaker 2Well , at Newberry I was really fortunate because a lot of the people that were surrounding us at Newberry the other athletes that were on other teams and then those that were with us in our SCA group and , you know , I would say , the student athlete success group they were all really doing things for the first time , right , and so there was a lot of people that were whether it was winning the conference for the first time , right , and so there was a lot of people that were whether it was winning the conference for the first time , or you know , obviously the expectations of the athletic department were increasing and so we had a whole group that were unified . We would , we did Bible studies together , we obviously hung out together , we trained together , and that was multiple sports .
Speaker 1So it was positive peer pressure .
Speaker 2It was a positive peer pressure I mean , you know it was a lot about the company we kept right , and so , you know , honestly , I fell into some of that Tamir Zimmerman and several other athletes that were there that played different sports where we would talk about goal setting and , you know , hanging out on the weekends and different things that we would do for our own sports and then , obviously , playing two sports .
Speaker 2I had two support systems , so year round I was deviating in and out of those two support systems and doing what we had to do to train and compete for those sports . So you know , to be transparent with you , ab , I didn't come up with that Like . That was really something that you know . My compass was given to me by two really caring and loving coaches and then also a community of people that wanted to be successful , and so I fell into that and then , as I matured and my faith became really the center point of my entire life , for me personally , that became my North Star and my decision maker . It's everything that we were doing was to try to honor the Lord , in addition to all those people around us that were really good humans .
Speaker 1I found this . This is what I always appreciated about you . I thought you had . You always talk about IQ and EQ and I thought it was balanced , because I always saw you having wisdom beyond your years , but also you lived as if the boat was burned . So if it's going to be , it's up to me . Tell us about that combination with IQ and EQ and the urgency of wisdom and working hard to try to get what
Building Character While Finding Identity
Speaker 1you want legally and morally .
Speaker 2Yeah . So that's a great question . I think , you know , I was really fortunate . My parents gave me everything from a standpoint of love and truth and a biblical upbringing . My parents gave me everything from a standpoint of love and truth and a biblical upbringing . But there was , let's say , humble beginnings for the Easterby family , meaning that there was , we didn't have a lot of extra . And so I knew , you know , when I went to school , really it was a missional , you know , trip Right , it was a . It was a hey , you're going now to grow and achieve and you need to get after it , because there's really not a whole lot to come back to from a standpoint of you know , there was no family business or any sort of headstart there . I needed to go get after it . And so I felt , like you know , when I got to college , the intellectual curiosity of understanding , like , hey , I got to learn and grow because I got to kind of make this work , was always at the , always at the center point of my mind . It was a healthy challenge for my parents .
Speaker 2I think , when you intersect love and truth , where you're talking about EQ and IQ , I think , when you intersect love and truth and you tell people the truth but you love them while you do it . That expedites growth , and I would say my parents did a great job expediting my growth by giving me love and truth until I got to college and then was fortunate , when I got to Newberry , that several coaches and again several of my athlete constituents also did that . Hey , let's love each other but let's tell each other the truth , and I think that grows both IQ and EQ . You can learn things , but if your emotions aren't strong enough and you aren't loved well enough , sometimes it's hard to apply them Right . And so I think that for me and for my experience both in college and then right out of college , I think love and truth was a huge part of the reason I felt comfortable going places other people in my family hadn't been yet .
Speaker 1Right .
Speaker 2And I felt I felt love Right . Other people in my family hadn't been yet Right and I felt I felt love right . I felt like I had been loved and 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 , you realize your talent isn't going to be as good and you're playing with people that are better than you now .
Speaker 2I remember my coach when I crossed half one time in practice . He said hey , the best thing you can do when you get the ball crossed half is get it to somebody else . So I knew that my Bible study leader at that point was our basketball coach and so I knew he loved me and he was telling me the truth . Get the ball to somebody else who can do something .
Speaker 2Okay , I didn't see that one coming , jack , I didn't see that one coming , wow so anyway , uh-huh , I say that to say you're , when you have people around you that care for you and also tell you the truth , whether it's hard truth or just things that you , you know , need to hear about a circumstance , your iq and your ecu right , your ability to make the right decision intellectually but also emotionally , process the right emotions in the moment they both grow , and so I was fortunate you know both again growing up and then in college , I think to have both of those seeds planted firmly in my heart , in addition to my faith that made , I think , growth possible at a fast rate .
Speaker 1Let me ask you this so then you are able to go , how were you able to transition from Newberry right there to South Carolina SEC school , power 5 school , and you were a team chaplain for Dave Odom , who we have tremendous respect for the listeners out there . He is one of the most
Transition to University of South Carolina
Speaker 1foremost coaches . He's a gentleman , a character guy , don Staley , who just won the national championship you can smile on that , jack Easterby . Your school just won the national championship and you were entrusted with that . How were you able to land on your feet and endear yourself to these leaders at South Carolina ?
Speaker 2Yeah , so between my junior and senior year in college , one of the organizations that I had gotten close with was Young Life , which is a ministry that does great work and specifically a parachurch ministry that I think really takes careful attention on evangelism of youth both in high school and college . And so one of the Young Life leaders I had gotten close with had gotten a job with the Jacksonville Jaguars and so he invited me to come down there and do an extended internship with him and he served as a mentor to me , and so when I got done with school I'd done an internship with Jacksonville and then had kind of thought through okay , what's the right 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 of South Carolina in the academic department and basically I was tutoring at night student athletes . I had always taken my academics seriously and thought that it was the right thing to do when I was in college , but they offered opportunities at South Carolina , through relationships I had just being from Columbia , for me to come in at night and help tutor student athletes .
Speaker 2Well , naturally there was a fit with the basketball team , because I had just played and so living with my granddad tutoring student athletes at night . And after we got some reps with the basketball team , you know , coach Odom called me and , to his credit , he said hey , you know , obviously our um group , our basketball team , is going to be traveling throughout the year . We need a tutor that will travel with us um , and then we'll also , you know , uh , help our guys as we start getting displaced from classes and different things . And so we went to the great alaska shootout oh , I've been there before .
Speaker 2Yeah , anchorage alaska I don't know , I don't , I don't know if you uh remember or if I've told you this story , but so we , we go to the great Alaska shootout and I'm there as a tutor , as an academic tutor , and um , coach Odom comes and says hey , it's Thanksgiving , we want somebody to do a devotion .
Speaker 1We know your faith is really important to you .
Speaker 2Would you be willing to give us a little nugget , a little devotion , a little 10 minute thing just to say thank you ? Uh , because we , you know it's Thanksgiving and we want , we're away from our families and all that , and so I got a chance to give a devotion . It just so happened that was the beginning of the tournament and so Coach Odom said hey , on Friday , the day after Thanksgiving , he said , hey , that went 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 .
Speaker 2So anyway , okay , so then subsequently , uh , I began to do a devotion for every game before that and then we would have about 20 to 25 of them I would do , and then the other 15 we would invite guests to do . Um , and we created a program to support the student athletes on the basketball team that year . That kind of grew out of that and then coach said , hey , I'll let you run my camps in the summer . I'm going to build a job description . And then he essentially made a job for me out of the men's basketball office at the University of South Carolina in 2005 . Out of the men's basketball office at the University of South Carolina in 2005 . So it was a really , really cool opportunity . It was built out of just serving student athletes in the academic center . That evolved into a career and a job . That was really fun as you know , college basketball is so fun and traveling and competing and watching people grow . And then that year we actually won the NIT .
Speaker 1Yeah , back to back two years in a row .
Speaker 2I want to say yeah , yeah , so that was really fun . So , yeah , it was a really cool story , just out of serving those guys in the academic center .
Speaker 1You said a lot and again , this is what this show is about Can do , can do the horse no one bet on . Already you said , hey , I've got to grind because mom and dad love me , they're being honest . It's just like my coach , like look you're playing well , but swing the basketball , you pass somebody . But it's interesting where you were aware of how you were showing up and you needed to grind . 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 then the opportunity you were prepared when Coach Odom said can you encourage our guys ? So I want to say this Tell the listeners about relationships and preparation , because I know you're a big preparation guy .
Speaker 2Yeah , I think what is so crazy about all of specifically sports , but really all 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 are always moving and so in order for you to be able to move with change or be prepared when an opportunity comes your way because of change , you have to naturally be so active every day in reading , studying , praying , knowing your surroundings , knowing the people that you're working with or potentially having a great relationship subset of people that you're interacting with , because , frankly , you know you can't control the change and the way things change , but you can control how you respond to change and , specifically in that situation , obviously athlete support has changed dramatically over the last
Moving to the NFL with Kansas City
Speaker 2really two decades . Right , I mean , it used to be hey , go to study hall , get your work done and we'll see you at practice .
Speaker 2And then obviously student athlete services began to evolve and there began to be more needs , needs and , to your point , you know I was very fortunate because I knew , as an athlete , that you know we all need people to come beside us and walk the road with us , and do life with us , to help us , to encourage us .
Speaker 1So relationships .
Speaker 2I was fortunate . I was fortunate to have both a passion for relationships and what it meant to be a good teammate . But I was also there and aware of how these businesses were changing and that the student athlete platforms and student athlete demands were going to go up and up , and so I think the relationships we created at University of South Carolina were really unique because they were birthed out of a movement , frankly , that was coming from a huge boom in college sports , and yet for that to be in my hometown , obviously I was very fortunate as well , because I knew a lot of those people and had runway with a lot of the people that were supporting the university in different ways . And so , yeah , I mean relationships , 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 feel Relationships are such a currency .
Speaker 2There's such a currency and I think we all are probably a product of the relationships we've had to this point , and we will all probably be a product of the relationships that we had to this point , and we will all probably be a product of the relationships that we continue to invest in over time . So , yeah , I mean there's like you said , there's a lot there . Those first early years were really , for me , all about relationships and people I learned from . Like Coach Odom , I mean listen , I had never .
Speaker 2I didn't know which suit to wear to which occasion right , I didn't know anything about dealing with the media , and I tell this story a lot Like Coach Odom . When he retired , he realized that the game was changing .
Speaker 1And 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 2Yeah . So Dave Odom is one of the most , in my opinion , one of the most um probably uh successful multi-tiered coaches in college basketball history . He started out as a high school coach um goldsboro high , several different um opportunities in the north carolina , uh middle , middle north car Carolina area , really during desegregation and , frankly , he advocated for racial equality .
Speaker 1He advocated for all people .
Speaker 2Just an amazing heart right , and that began to give him opportunities to coach different places . Had a brief stint at East Carolina and then had a huge relationship with Ralph Sampson at Virginia right . So he goes to Virginia , becomes an assistant coach for Terry Holland .
Speaker 1We played against him . That was my era . That was my era . I remember Coach Odom absolutely .
Speaker 2That's right . So then obviously goes to Wake and has so many Rodney Rogers Tim Duncan has some great recruits there takes them into the NCAA tournament . You know Wake didn't have a huge tradition at that time but he developed an expectation for them to be good and a lot of those glory days of the ACC right when you had basically , you know , eight to 10 teams every year that could compete , uh , to get to the sweet 16 or beyond . So really cool . His success in South Carolina really stole him away from Wake Forest because he had become , you know , the expectations had gotten so high at Wake that you know he had created sometimes his own demise in some ways .
Speaker 1Oh , the expectation was so high .
Speaker 2Yes , yes , yeah , so anyway . So south carolina steals him away , um , and you know , really quickly created a success , a successful program at south carolina , two in nit championships , ncaa birth right off the bat , uh , which was really a blessing . But when his career came to an end and I think this is really interesting he talked a lot about the relationships that had meant a lot to him and he told a story in his retirement speech it's really cool about the gentleman from Arkansas that was the door holder for the locker room and how important it was for him when he used to go play at Arkansas and South Carolina and Arkansas entered the SEC at the same time , so there was a , they were a partners in the schedule , so they were often opponents . And he told the story about how in his media press conference of his retirement that you know there are all these people that go into making a game possible , right .
Speaker 2From the recruiters , to the players , to even people who are helping keep behind the scenes yes , you know , keeping the locker room open , uh , and escorting him from the bus to locker room . So , anyway , I was able to learn from him a pretty much everything that goes into a successful sports organization . I saw him handle from media scrutiny to recruiting , to communication with AAU coaches , to communication with his own staff , to his family , to raising two great kids who would go on to be coaches . I saw a lot of that which I had no precedent in my own family for for that type of success , integrity and platform . Coach and I went running every day . I would go over and meet at his house early in the morning and he taught me anything from what suit to wear to how to tie different ties to you know where to where to go in the country for certain things , and understand Tone , tact and timing as well .
Speaker 2Yeah , yes , and so anyway , I give him a lot of credit in those early years , because I just come back to the man he was and how he led and just learned a lot from him .
Speaker 1Let me ask you this relationship was so big that now the NFL is calling and I don't want to go over
New England Patriots and Championship Culture
Speaker 1that 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 those relationships at Newberry and now South Carolina . That the NFL is calling and it's the Kansas City Chiefs , so all of a sudden it's the NFL . But then real life happens and you were in the thrust of having to navigate a heartbreaking experience . Tell us about Kansas City real quick .
Speaker 2Yes , 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 Bible study for all athletes on campus ?
Speaker 2Wow , wow , wow we started a Bible study where we would have all of the athletes come to the football stadium and do a Bible study once a week and we had several people contribute different athletic administrators and coaches and people and just kind of a rallying point for the student athletes during the week . And one of the athletes that came to that was a young man named Ryan Suckup , and Ryan was our kicker , originally from North Carolina and he was drafted Mr Irrelevant by the Kansas City Chiefs and naturally when he went to Kansas City he continued his impact and his ministry there through local FCA and other people . But he said hey , jack , would you come out and speak to our team and challenge our team ? And so he introduced me to the general manager there , scott Pioli , and they had not yet established their chaplaincy character development program and so they allowed me to kind of pilot some growth opportunities for them and to create some onboarding systems for them and to help athletes and people there as they relocated but also help them with Saturday night chapels and speaking to the young players and things like that .
Speaker 2And so when we started that process really I had I was very naive to the level of interaction and the level of just access that Scott and Ryan would give me over the course of the next two years and , man , it was so impactful . I learned so much . There's so many of our friends still to this day that we have that we made through Kansas City and through tough experiences we went through there , but also some really good experiences , some life change , some people that really committed themselves to doing what was right and there were a lot of great people hired in that organization that really committed themselves to doing what was right . And there were a lot of great people hired in that organization that really set the foundation for who their organization is now and how awesome they are now .
Speaker 1Well , also you talked about at the time . I want to say you were commuting , so Holly and the kids were back in South Carolina and you were commuting . How was that grind ? How were you able to pull that off and still be in two places at one time ?
Speaker 2Yeah , I mean , I don't know if I did that well all the time . I know that I , you know a lot of early morning , late night flights , a lot of . I felt like at some points I was welcoming the flight attendants on the plane , you know , and they knew who I was because it was the same flights every week . But yeah , the plane , you know and and they knew , they knew who I was because it was the same flights every week . But yeah , no , it was .
Speaker 2I was really fortunate , really fortunate to have family support but also to have the support , you know , at that time , of the chief's organization to allow us to come in and serve them in that way .
Speaker 2And , like you mentioned , I mean we went through some tough stuff there . You know , unfortunately , we had a situation where , you know , a young man made a bad mistake and I think that , although you know we all wish that he was still with us and we wish that that didn't happen , I do think a lot of great things came out of it . I think that , you know , the organization handled it really really well . I think the support staff was there for the players and I thought the players rallied around each other and served each other loved each other well , I loved his family well , and so there were a lot of things that , out of a quote bad , challenging event , in some ways life-changing event I do think there was a catalyst for good . There were things that came out that were good lessons and precedents within the NFL for services for players , and things that began to activate even more growth across the board within services that are offered to players to continue to help them grow as people while their careers are unfolding .
Speaker 1Yeah , now you talk about this . So , where you're going through a heartbreaking loss of a player , in that you're a young guy and you're the character coach and they are responding to you , how were you able to navigate compassion and what were you becoming and learning about yourself in trauma ?
Speaker 2Yeah , 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 than anything , right ? Um , we were blessed to bring in some really cool counseling services that , I think , helped some of the players and the families that that had great relationships , uh , with javon . But we also , I think , were able to listen to , um the hearts of how connected that team was . Um , even though maybe the success on the field wasn't quite what everybody wanted , um team and the connection of a team , uh , is still special .
Speaker 2Uh , there's a lot of time that's lost together , a lot of minutes 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 learned the value of listening . You can't change right , there's a lot of things you can't alter . There's no one liner , there's no quick fix . There's no , you know , one little box you can check to make it feel better , to make it go away , but you can listen and try to lean in and hear the hearts of the people that may be hurting or may be thriving , depending on the situation . So I think I really learned the value 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 through and some of those lessons that we went through and how they were going to inform my career but also inform how I could help other people .
Speaker 1You know it's interesting . You're in demand now , so everything you're touching has been able to bear fruit Newberry College , south Carolina , kansas City and some of the positive reforms . And then , lo and behold , the best of the best comes calling Bill Belichick and Tom Brady . Three Super Bowls in five years , four ACC championships . My goodness , how did that happen ?
Speaker 2Well , I was very fortunate that my relationship with Kansas City , you know , persisted through the change there .
Speaker 2You know , andy was hired and was able to have a great rapport with him and I had really thought I would stay on with Kansas City because I knew Andy's solid character , approach and his desire for his players to have what they needed .
Speaker 2And then that offseason , you know , I got a call from Bill and Bill and Andy are good friends .
Speaker 2And then that offseason , you know , I got a call from Bill and Bill and Andy are good friends and he allowed me to go visit with Bill and went and met with Bill and Bill had a vision for a role that would support him and the staff in onboarding players , equipping players and inspiring players to impact them in a way that would help them not only with what they were doing on the field but off , and also to connect the team more . They had been through a tough situation with one of their teammates as well , and so in some ways , while I wasn't there for that , I was picking up with a group of people that had been through a lot and every team goes through a lot every year , right , but the idea is , you know , their team had been through some challenges that , um , I think were unique , and so , um bill had a vision for the role for me to come into the patriots and serve their group , um , and so we moved to foxborough , massachusetts a little cold and wow , wow , what a blessing that was .
Speaker 2Yeah , we had to go get some jackets . That weather forecast was a little bit different than South Carolina , but , man , we were so fortunate by just the people we met there just life-changing relationships Matthew Slater and Nate Solder and Devin McCourty and you mentioned , tom and so many other people that we met when we got there who were just amazing humans . I mean just absolutely awesome humans , and you know this because of your success in professional sports , adrian . You really don't achieve that type of you know , sustainable success without having a lot of high character people who know what to do and can do it consistently Right .
Speaker 2You know a lot of people know what to do and they can't do it . A lot of people can do it , but they can't do it consistently right . You know a lot of people know what to do and they can't do it . A lot of people can do it , but they can't do it consistently right . And if you have people who know what to do and can do it consistently , it just creates a lot of trust and a lot of habits that can be used under pressure . And in that case , there was just an awesome nucleus of humans that were in that building and that's a tribute to ownership and and coach Belichick to get them all there and we were blessed to really help serve that group as a lot of awesome things unfolded .
Speaker 1Well , as I'm watching the process again . So your reputation is growing . I'm writing , wrote down some notes . The demand is growing and , step by 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 and opposite reaction . So , as you're being celebrated , there's also an undercurrent that's saying hey , how is this guy as a chaplain eventually going to become a general manager and executive vice president , director of football operations
Houston Texans and Career Challenges
Speaker 1, one of the youngest ? Tell us about that experience and that rapid rise .
Speaker 2Yeah , well , you know , we had a great stretch when we were in New England and we really enjoyed every minute of it . And I would say , from the standpoint of where we were living there in Foxborough and that region , how great that was the success we had , how that region supports that team . We enjoyed every minute of it . My wife and I felt it was time to move forward to a different opportunity , a different challenge , and so I was familiar with the Texans organization , obviously . You know Bob McNair was a huge Gamecock .
Speaker 1Oh , okay .
Speaker 2I was familiar with his overlap with our athletic director , eric Hyman , when I was at South Carolina , and so I knew good things about their organization and knew they were good people and so went down to Houston and , um , you know the the things that we all aspire to do when we get to a place , um , sometimes we get new information Once we get to that place . I definitely , at each place I was uh fortunate to be at , I was uh , you know , once you get kind of under the hood , if you will , there's new information that comes right . And so when we got to Houston , we loved living in Houston . Houston was a great situation for us as a family . Our girls loved school there . It was a really good school . They went to First Baptist Academy , which was a great school , and so when we got there , obviously you know , a lot changed and there was a lot of transition and a lot of things that went on , but we were so thankful for that and so thankful for the time there , the lessons there , the opportunity to serve there and a lot .
Speaker 2I mean , I think there is going to be challenges , no matter what you're doing , uh , when you try to uh grow and evolve an organization . Um , sometimes those challenges are are things that are , um , you know , easily changeable . Sometimes those things are very difficult to get changed and so , um , again , we , we're so thankful for that . And and really , uh , I think what I learned , uh more than anything , was a lot of uh things that 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 long list of those uh , so that I can reflect and be like , hey , these are the things that , jack , you need to do .
Speaker 1Continue to grow in so that you can serve whatever group you lead next , you can serve them better , let's double down for a second , jack , as much as 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 on some things . And you know , when you and I talk , I always ask the question 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 the listener out there that may have had their heart broken , that may have had something accused on them , whether it was right or wrong . What was your self-talk like ? What were you inside your four walls of your mind when nobody was around ?
Speaker 2Yeah , I think I really realized how much of the world and so much of things that we are a part of every day that are outside of our control . I would say that was something that I really realized . Obviously , there's always margin of things , like I said , that you can do better , and there are certain things that you say hey , you know what ? I fouled that pitch off .
Speaker 2But , there's a lot of things that you can't control . And I think what I thought about 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't control take up a lot of our mind space , then obviously those things are going to result in all types of different frustrations for us , right , because you know they're not going to turn out the way we want , or there's going to get negative feedback , or there's going to be a lot of ups and downs with those subject lines . But you , if you really try to think about how do you , what do you control , then you can , you know , get yourself back center and be able to do what honors God and honors your family and , hopefully , honors the group that you're with . So I think it's that's the one thought I would say I thought a lot about is what , what can I control and what do I need to make sure that I do today to align with what I control ?
Speaker 2And you know , again , like I say , I think there's certain things , certain parts of that list that you execute real well because you're focusing on that and you feel good about it , and there's other parts , that man , I control this , but I didn't do a great job . And so you learn and you grow and you say all right , you know , next time when I'm in control of blank blank , I'm going to do , you know , said activity better . And so I think , though it's really , really , really I mean , with the days of , obviously , social media and all the different things that go on with the media I think that you can very easily gravitate a lot of your mental energy towards things you don't control . And I think that having the mind discipline to say here's what I control , and is it good , is it , is it excellent , is it is it , you know , is it praiseworthy ? Um , and if you do the things you can control in that manner , then usually it's going to work out .
Speaker 1Well , now you part ways and then you're still in demand . So 2022
Life After the NFL
Speaker 1, you're an independent , basically a free agent , and now you sit on the board of a few companies and then you started your own , basically investment group . Who is Jack Easterby today and what are you doing today ? Because you're still in demand .
Speaker 2Yeah , so I really felt like one of the tasks that God had given me . My last year in Houston was my parents had been both diagnosed Alzheimer's and so .
Speaker 2I felt like it was something that I needed to do to get back to the East Coast and try to help care for them as best we could . I think I mentioned earlier I got an awesome sister who's in Columbia . She's an accountant and just an awesome human , and so she had really held the fort down while we 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 I was able to jump back and forth from Columbia while getting my parents the care they needed .
Speaker 2And I think , as that has unfolded , I've felt and thought a lot about multi-generational impact , right , things my family did for me , things I'm trying to do for my girls , and then also the world around us , and being close to family and friends on the East Coast has really been good , and so we've been here . We started a small private equity fund that we've been managing for a year and some change , and then have still been working in the sports scene with a lot of friends and uh relationships . We had uh over the last year and that's been really good , um , and really excited about uh different opportunities to learn and to impact people and , like I said , this is a little bit more in the footprint of where we grew up and obviously having tons of relationships in this region really helps . And yeah , things are going really well heading into the holidays here and I'm excited about some good time with family as we wrap up 24 .
Speaker 1You know it's interesting . I wrote down a couple of quotes that you had . Explain this one to me . You talk about the cornerstone of good leadership is creating emotional stability . What's that mean ?
Speaker 2Well
Leadership Philosophy and Life Lessons
Speaker 2, I think you know , every day has its own events and I think that those events naturally prompt our emotions in different ways , right ? Sometimes things happen that are unexpected , sometimes things happen that are expected , and , in my opinion , whatever group you're leading or whatever group you're trying to lead , there's going to be an emotional fracture that goes on in that group based on unexpected events and expected events . And so , as a leader , your goal is to provide emotional stability for the group . You know you can't obviously be involved in every single person's life personally , but you , as the leader , need to be stable emotionally , understanding that in the fractures that go on a daily basis , people are going to be looking to you for how to respond , how to react . And so what I've kind of come to and concluded after some successes and some failures , has been your ability to say , hey , listen , I want to show up the same way every day the same energy every day , have the same authenticity and the same empathy for others every day , you'll provide stability for when those fractures happen .
Speaker 2People can get through them and you can work through them and massage the different challenges together to hopefully build unity amongst the group . But if you're emotionally too fractured , then you yourself can't lead and provide that North Star that the people around you need . And so I think again , we live in a really emotionally unstable world . Right , things swing . The pendulum is wide from , obviously , the different things that are going on in our country to just families and challenges that we all have , and if you can be water dripping on a rock for others in the way that you carry yourself , it may give them some encouragement and some hope that they can get through whatever they see is the big rock in the way .
Speaker 1Let me give you another one . You said this we're all rough drafts of the people we're becoming . What's that mean ?
Speaker 2Yeah , I tell you , I've written a lot of rough drafts .
Speaker 1I think I probably turned in some final drafts that should have been rough drafts .
Speaker 2We all grow every day . Our circumstances , the situations that we're in , we all grow every day . None of us are who we were and none of us are who we're going to be , and I think that what I've begun to notice over the years has been there's so many things that are edited , you know , out of our lives or sometimes need to be removed out of our lives to enable us to grow and to become something that we didn't maybe see we could be with that in our lives , and so , whether that's , you know again , just habits or relationships or disciplines , you know all of us are construction projects . You know , so many times I feel like , you know , I sit in my office in the mornings and I'll think I need to get go get yellow tape and just put it all over my desk because I feel like you know you get a lot of feedback from your mistakes . You know when you get something right .
Speaker 2You don't always get the same feedback , but we all get a lot of feedback from your mistakes . You know , when you get something right you don't always get the same feedback , but we all get a lot of feedback from our mistakes . And so we are all construction projects , we're all trying to get better and improve , and the more you can edit and audit from the feedback you get , the quicker you're going to grow .
Speaker 1I hear brokenness . I hear something that's realistic . When I hear speakers you and I are privileged to be around speakers and be speakers I always ask the question is that sincere , Is that real ? And I hear the brokenness from Jack Easterby . That's a good thing . I'm going to ask one more question before we start to wrap this up , One of my favorite ones . That you say life is measured by time , but experienced in moments . If I said that right , Tell us about that one .
Speaker 2Well , 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 1wouldn'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 2It was party time yeah so I think that if we all look back on our lives , you know we don't necessarily know what the clock said , but we remember how we felt , right . We ? Remember who was in the room and my thought has been that I think a lot of times we measure our days , whether it's our calendar , our lot of times we measure our days , whether it's our calendar , our phones or whatever . We measure our days in time minutes hours and all that .
Speaker 2But we remember our life in moments , like I remember the first time you talked to our team at the University of South Carolina . I remember that moment . I remember the cafeteria we were in . I remember exactly where I sat Right . Wow , I remember where I was when , you know , malcolm Butler intercepted the ball to beat the Seattle Seahawks at the last played Super Bowl in Arizona .
Speaker 2So I think those things , in my opinion , inform a lot of our emotions , positive and negative , about how we remember our lives . And so if we look forward , it's always that time matrix . But if we look backwards , man , it's usually the moments that we have in our lives and the people that were a huge part of those moments . So I've always said like , hey , man , windshield , great , let's look at time , how are we going to use our time ? But , man , when you look back , gosh , it's all about moments and how time stood still because you had an amazing moment with a friend , or amazing moment with your teammates , or amazing moment with a business that was really successful or had a big event that happened . So , yeah , life is , life , is man . Life is so much measured in time , but it is remembered in moments .
Speaker 1Wow . Well , jack , I'm going to put an exclamation point on that one there . This has been a moment for us and the listeners , and I want you to give a nugget to the listeners .
Final Thoughts on Personal Growth
Speaker 1One more parting shot for Jack Easterby . How can you encourage someone to keep climbing ? For that listener out there , what would you say ? After all these experiences the Bill Belichick's , the Superbowl's , the heartbreak , the accusations you've been through how could you encourage someone to keep climbing ?
Speaker 2Yeah , I think a lot of our life we view through the lens of where we are versus where we want to be , and I think a lot of our life we view through the lens of where we are versus where we want to be , and I think a lot of times when you evaluate your life that way , you only receive the negative feedback right Like here I am today and here's where I want to be in five years and I think that naturally leads to you receiving the negative , although you're thinking about trying to grow . So I think the question becomes how can we each day put in a full day to be the best version of who God made us to be ? And what I would challenge us all to do and I would challenge any listener who's trying to evolve , grow , become better is don't just view life through where you want to be and what's in the way of where you want to be . Life through where you want to be and what's in the way of where you want to be . Don't view life through man , I want to be such and such , but I can't do that until this . Or I want to be this , but I can't do that because of that , because that's naturally going to leave you with a negative sentiment in your mind . Right , you're naturally only taking away the thing that's in between you and perceived greatness .
Speaker 2Really , just establish what a full day looks like , establish what a full week looks like . What's your absolute best , what puts the nail all the way to the floor for you doing your absolute best on what you've been given that day , that week , that month . And if you do your absolute best , then you'll be shocked what could happen as you string that together best . Then you'll be shocked what could happen as you string that together . But I have found that there is just masses of people right now that are sitting in chairs or sitting in offices viewing their life from where they are to where they want to be , with whatever obstacle in between the two , and that's what they think about 90% of the time . And so my thought would be don't view it that way .
Speaker 2Don't think about hey , I'm here but 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 , to see 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 your relationships , all you got put in it to people around you . Just put the nail flush to the board , give it all you got think , read , pray , study , impact and then watch what can happen , and I think you'll be shocked where it'll really end up , versus only seeing it from where you are to where you want to be and what might be in the way of that .
Speaker 1Beautiful . 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 listeners out there . I told you Jack Easterby has been just an amazing man . Tell us where the viewers , the listeners , can find you . Where can they ?
Speaker 2find you if they want to follow up on what you're doing . Well , our family's blessed to have a foundation , the Greatest Champion Foundation . We founded in 2011 to begin to impact character coaching around the country , to build curriculums , to help support coaches who want to do it the right way . So we've got a great website there . And then we're in Charlotte , north Carolina , and blessed to be a part of the community of faith here , but also the business community , the sports business community . Have been blessed to see a lot of different people in this region and , again , we're just so thankful for relationships with people like yourself and others who are really getting up every morning saying that they want to make a difference .
Speaker 2Try to raise other people's lives and raise other people's boats higher by interacting with others the right way . So thank you for your friendship and your love all these years and support man . It's really a blessing .
Speaker 1Man , jack , thanks for coming on . We salute you Outstanding . I sure appreciate that Folks . That's Jack Easterby and just a wonderful man , and you just heard it . A lot of people talk but this guy has something to say and it's been so rich and just an ordinary person who takes his walk and humanity seriously . Wow For my climbers out there . Thanks for joining us today . We're going to have some upcoming shows . People that are just like Jack Easterby , that's just got a can-do spirit and we want you to connect with that . If you enjoyed today , we want you to look at adrienbranchspeakscom , join us on social media at adrienbranchespeakscom , join us on social media at Adrienne Branch Speaks and also download the Climb the name of the show , the Climb where podcasts are available . It's been a lot of fun . We sure appreciate you guys today and your time and for my climbers my climbers , my climbers , remember this be encouraged and keep climbing . Thanks everybody , thank you .