The Giants will have their fifth running backs coach in five years in 2025 and their fourth in four years under Brian Daboll.
Joel Thomas is leaving Daboll’s coaching staff after only one season to return to the New Orleans Saints, where he spent nearly a decade from 2015-23 prior to his one season in New York, per NFL Network.
He is returning to New Orleans in a lateral move to coach the Saints’ running backs again, per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill. So this is a greener pasture to do the same job he was doing with the Giants.
Thomas, 50, becomes the third running back coach in three years to leave Daboll’s staff voluntarily after only one season with the organization.
DeAndre Smith left after the 2022 season for a lateral move to the Indianapolis Colts. Jeff Nixon left after the 2023 season for the Syracuse offensive coordinator job during an offseason that marked an exodus of numerous staffers from the Giants’ sinking ship.
Now Thomas is leaving for a lateral move to The Big Easy.
Thomas’ departure comes days after the Daily News reported that Giants offensive assistant Christian Daboll, the head coach’s son, has left the team’s coaching staff to pursue other avenues, according to sources, after two years on staff right out of college.
GM Joe Schoen and Daboll are entering their fourth Giants season with an 18-32-1 regular season record (.363) and a 1-1 playoff mark in their debut 2022 season. The Giants and the Tennessee Titans share the longest odds of winning next year’s Super Bowl in the entire NFL at +20000 on DraftKings.
