Three sentences, one for each year of cataclysmic damage Easterby caused the Texans and its fractured fan base. That's it. Admittedly, "acknowledging" Easterby's "positive contributions" shouldn't take long at all either. There were hardly any. Hell, depending on the role you feel Easterby played in luring Nick Caserio to come to town and take on the role of GM, there may not be ANY positive contributions from Easterby.From the #Texans: pic.twitter.com/0tMhFa6zxI
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) October 17, 2022
As with anything this significant, with so many tentacles and a sea of human damage in the wake of Easterby's reign of terror, there are winners and losers. Here are a few of each, in the wake of Easterby's ouster from the Texans' organization:
WINNERS
4. Every front office and back office Texans employee
If you talk to any Texans' employee who was in the building for the Easterby Experience, they will likely tell you a story about how Easterby negatively impacted their department in some way, and if they can't, then they DEFINITELY know somebody who can. One of the most frustrating things about covering the Texans the first year Easterby showed up was that nobody could give you a straight answer on what his job was. "He just does some of everything!" folks would say. As it turns out, Easterby was making people miserable, many of whom were either fired or quit. Easterby almost singlehandedly took one of the bets places in town to work, and made it a cesspool of distrust and anxiety.
3. Nick Caserio
Let me first say that I like Nick Caserio, the general manager and the human being. I think the franchise got it right in making him the GM. Along those lines, I'll acknowledge that Easterby played some role in bringing Caserio here, especially because the search committee for a new GM did not seem to have Caserio on their list until Easterby stepped in, and took a little flight to New England with Cal McNair. That said, I am happy for Caserio that Easterby's leaving can put to bed just how attached Caserio to Easterby is moving forward. Caserio is a competent football executive, and now he can go be one without the spector of Easterby looming.
2. Andre Johnson
This bullet point won't take long — Andre Johnson was the one former player who took direct aim at Easterby back in January 2021 in a since deleted tweet:
If I’m @deshaunwatson I will stand my ground. The Texans organization is known for wasting players careers. Since Jack Easterby has walk into the building nothing good has happened in/for the organization and for some reason someone can’t seem to see what’s going on. Pathetic!!!
With Easterby out of the building, the talk now turns to getting Johnson back into the building in some fashion, which would be a great day for Houston.
1. Cal McNair, hands on owner
The McNairs have been making a concerted effort to reengage the Texans' fan base on the heels of the disastrous last couple seasons, with much of the disaster a direct result of Easterby's power. As part of that, CEO Cal McNair has been taking a more hands on approach, something that is quite evident just observing the team at training camp and talking to people behind the scenes. It took a while, too long probably (more on that in a minute), but credit McNair for finally ejecting from his most disastrous hire. "Why did it happen in Week 7 of the season?" some of you have wondered, and my answer is "Why not?"
LOSERS
4. Cal McNair, hands off owner
Now, we can't just throw flowers at Cal McNair for undoing a horrible decision, because after all, he IS the one who hired Easterby in the first place, and was then complicit in Easterby's accumulation of power and backing some of the horrible moves Easterby and Bill O'Bien made, lest we forget that McNair, after the DeAndre Hopkins trade, praised the courage of his front office executives to make such moves. That's, um, definitely one way to look at it, I suppose. Good for Cal for ejecting, bad for Cal for being taken in by Easterby in the first place.
3. Josh McCown
Easterby's power seemed to wane over the course of the last year, and It seems as though Easterby's one final "Hail Mary" to regain his dwindling power was to get his buddy, former quarterback and zero time NFL coach Josh McCown, the Texans' head coaching gig. Frighteningly, it came awfully close to happening, and might have happened if the Brian Flores lawsuit accusing the NFL of racial partiality in coaching hires hadn't popped up simultaneous with the Texans' concluding their head coach search. With Easterby now out of football, it looks like McCown may have to actually earn a head coaching gig through years of being an assistant, like every other head coach in the league.
2. The Easterby chosen ones
There are a few folks who feel specially handpicked by Easterby within the organization and on the team. Character coach Dylan Thompson was someone with ties to the University of South Carolina, where Easterby spent some time. What does Easterby's firing mean to his future? On the roster, it's been widely viewed that backup QB Jeff Driskel is an Easterby special. WR Brandin Cooks is a big Easterby guy, but probably too good a player for it to affect his future, one way or the other. The next moves, if any, will be the most interesting to watch.
1. Jack Easterby on Twitter
Not much to say here — Easterby went on Twitter to thank the McNairs. Just go read the replies, and call it a day:
My family and I are thankful for our time in Houston. We appreciate the opportunities the McNair family has provided us and wish the organization well moving forward.
— Jack Easterby (@JackEasterby) October 17, 2022
Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.
