Kellen Moore Steals Key Coach From Giants

And yet, Daboll’s misfortune continued anyway. Moore stole a key coach, Joel Thomas, from the Giants’ staff.

According to Tom Pelissero, running backs coach Joel Thomas was hired by Moore, returning to New Orleans after a single season in New York.

Notably, Thomas spent the nine prior seasons (2015-2023) with the Saints, working under head coaches Sean Payton and Dennis Allen. He managed backfields with Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram, the former developing into one of the game’s most weaponized stars.

Perhaps those prior successes make Giants running back Tyrone Tracy’s rookie successes less surprising. As a former receiver, there were legitimate questions about how well and how soon he’d be able to contribute between the tackles as a starting-caliber running back. Amassing over 1,000 yards from scrimmage and impacting both facets of the offense, he quickly put those concerns to rest.

Thomas is one of the most well-respected assistant coaches in football, spending 15 years rising up the college ranks, largely presiding over the running backs. He also isn’t the first running backs coach to leave after a single season under Daboll.

In fact, every one of Daboll’s running back coaches has lasted just a year with the Giants. A year after firing Brenton Burns, Daboll was hired and brought along DeAndre Smith, who departed in a lateral move for the Indianapolis Colts in 2023. His replacement, Jeff Nixon, took Syracuse’s offensive coordinator job, and now Thomas has left town.

That doesn’t have to be anything more than coincidence and bad luck, but it’s one more offseason need for Daboll to face. Without elite talent at the position and the staff’s collective seat already warm, New York may have trouble replacing Thomas as swiftly as it would hope.