If Mike Holmgren makes changes on the Browns coaching staff, a key advisor to him will be his agent, Bob LaMonte.
View full sizeBrowns President Mike Holmgren, above, was the highest-paid coach in the NFL in 1999, thanks in large part to his friend and agent, Bob LaMonte.LaMonte, who owns Professional Sports Representation Inc., is not only Holmgren's agent but one of his best friends.
The two men were teachers and coaches at Oak Grove High School in San Jose, Calif., 35 years ago. Their relationship merged into a business association when Holmgren stayed on the coaching path and LaMonte veered to the agent business.
LaMonte started as a player agent, but his specialty is now coaches and front office executives. Holmgren's success as an NFL coach helped LaMonte's business boom. PSR reportedly grew from 18 clients to 45 in the past 10 years.
LaMonte returned the favor by making Holmgren one of the wealthiest coaches in NFL history. Holmgren was the highest-paid coach in the NFL when he moved from Green Bay to Seattle in 1999. At his height in Seattle, Holmgren reportedly was pulling in $7.5 million a year.
When Holmgren made his career move to Cleveland, LaMonte was the dealmaker. Then when Holmgren arrived in Berea to deliberate the fate of Eric Mangini, LaMonte was in the building to help gather Holmgren's support staff.
He represents two of Holmgren's chief advisers -- General Manager Tom Heckert and senior adviser Gil Haskell, Holmgren's former offensive coordinator in Seattle and assistant coach in Green Bay. LaMonte also represents Will Lewis, who was interviewed for the GM job but remained with the Seahawks as vice president of football operations.
Why were the names Randy Mueller and John Schneider mentioned also as candidates for the Browns GM job? They, too, are LaMonte clients.
Few can recall the most recent time Holmgren filled a major opening on a coaching staff with a coach not represented by LaMonte.
That is why the names Jon Gruden and John Fox frequently are mentioned as possible successors to Mangini in Cleveland if Holmgren pulls the plug. Both are LaMonte clients.
Others include deposed Denver coach Josh McDaniels, Minnesota interim head coach Leslie Frazier, deposed Minnesota coach Brad Childress, Philadelphia offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, Rams offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, Chiefs offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz.
So you might say that LaMonte wields a great deal of influence in Berea. But it's not unusual for an agent to control the power structure of the Browns. It's happened with other regimes, also.
When Carmen Policy ran the organization, the man behind the scenes was agent Marvin Demoff. He represented Policy and former GM Dwight Clark. When it looked as if the Browns were going to hire Marvin Lewis to replace first coach Chris Palmer, Demoff swooped in and hand-delivered Butch Davis. It was Demoff who offered up former Green Bay GM Ron Wolf as a special consultant for Davis. Later, Demoff recommended John Collins as a replacement for Policy.
When Phil Savage won the power play over Collins and strengthened his grip as GM, it opened the door for Beachwood-based agent Neil Cornrich to have his run behind the scenes. Cornrich represented Savage, who then hired the coordinators for Romeo Crennel's staff -- Rob Chudzinski on offense, Todd Grantham and later Mel Tucker on defense. Cornrich represented all of them.
So there's always a powerbroker lurking in the halls of the Browns' complex. That well-dressed, quiet man with the curly hair? It's LaMonte.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: tgrossi@plaind.com, 216-999-4670