After thinking deeper about his options, a person close to Josh McDaniels has reneged and abruptly gone in a different direction.
Bob LaMonte, the agent for the Patriots’ offensive coordinator — who is not the Colts’ head coach — cut ties with his client a day after McDaniels cut ties with Indianapolis, backing out of an agreed deal to become their head coach and instead staying in New England.
ESPN reported that LaMonte told McDaniels he would be “committing professional suicide” by breaking the Indianapolis agreement. The NFL Network reported LaMonte tried to dissuade McDaniels, telling the 41-year-old he would be making the biggest professional mistake of his life if he followed through. McDaniels did, and his representation is gone.
LaMonte also represents Colts general manager Chris Ballard, whom McDaniels spurned after taking a last-minute meeting with Patriots owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick.
This may be the first concrete example of McDaniels being ostracized by the NFL community. While the belief is McDaniels must have some assurance that he will succeed Belichick as the Patriots’ head coach, it is hard to fathom anyone else touching McDaniels, who had begun organizing his Indianapolis coaching staff, and already had been announced as the team’s next head coach, before the change of heart.