NEWBERRY - Newberry College vice president for intercollegiate athletics Brad Edwards has announced the hiring of former Newberry standout Jack Easterby as associate athletic director for strategic operations.
Easterby, a former assistant to the director of operations for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, will assist in strategic planning and development, sport administration and character development in his new role with the Wolves' athletic department.
“It is great to be back home again," Easterby said. "Newberry College, its campus and its amazing people have indeed played a special role in my life. I am especially thankful to Brad Edwards, Dr. John Hudgens and the board for making this new position possible for me. Newberry athletics has been and always will be about granting opportunities and changing lives. I look forward to again being a part of that process.”
Easterby has functioned the last seven years as the campus director for the University of South Carolina's Fellowship of Christian Athletes and as a character coach for several South Carolina athletic teams. This includes working with multiple All-Americans and gold medal winners through the men's and women's track and field programs and serving as the team chaplain for the Gamecocks' men's golf team.
He has been heavily involved in directing camps and serving as the character coach for the men's and women's basketball programs during five postseason appearances, which included one NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance with the Lady Gamecocks in 2012. He was also the team chaplain for the Gamecocks' College World Series Champion baseball teams in 2010 and 2011.
He got his start at South Carolina in 2005 as an academic learning specialist and tutor coordinator for men's basketball under head coach Dave Odom. Easterby is also the executive director of The Greatest Champion Foundation, which began in 2011, to help increase character- and value-based instruction among the nation's elite athletic leaders.
As a student-athlete at Newberry, Easterby lettered in both golf and basketball and received several distinguished athletic and academic awards. In academics, Jack was awarded the South Atlantic Conference's prestigious Scholar Athlete award in 2005 following his senior year and was named to eight consecutive semesters of the South Atlantic Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll. As a senior he was also named the American Legion Student-Athlete of the Year. In athletics, Easterby was the former nine-hole and single round record holder for Newberry's men's golf program and was a member of the 2004 South Atlantic Conference men's basketball tournament runner-up team. He was awarded the Men's Golf Character Award by the South Atlantic Conference and Newberry College honored Easterby with its Campus Ministry Award and Fellowship of Christian Athletes Award during his final year on campus.
Jack has also been the keynote speaker on a national basis for numerous professional, collegiate and high school athletic teams, high school and collegiate graduations, churches and other events. In 2012, he was the keynote speaker for the City of Columbia's Martin Luther King Day Celebration and was a featured youth speaker for the Southern Baptist Convention. He also traveled with the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs during the 2011 season assisting as a chaplain consultant.
Jack holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Sport Management from Newberry College and is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Leadership at Liberty University. He is married to the former Holly Hopple, also a Newberry College graduate, and they have one daughter, Houston, who is two.
