The Giants announced two coaching hires, one new to the franchise and the other a returnee from 2016-19.
Joel Thomas is the team’s new running backs coach, while Aaron Wellman is the executive director of player performance. Both coaches are 49 years old.
They join offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo as new Giants coaching hires.
Thomas has 24 years of coaching experience, having previously served as the running backs coach for the New
Orleans Saints for nine seasons. During that span, the Saints tied for second in the NFL with 161 rushing
touchdowns, and Thomas’ running backs recorded 27 individual 100-yard efforts.
Under Thomas’ instruction, Alvin Kamara was selected to five Pro Bowls and is the only NFL player to have at least
1,160 yards from scrimmage in each of the last seven seasons, with three of them totaling 1,500 yards or more.
Kamara is the first player in Saints history to lead the team in rushing for six straight seasons. He has 10,048
scrimmage yards and 78 touchdowns, making him one of four players in the league with 10,000+ yards and 75+
scores since his debut in 2017. The others are Derrick Henry, Tyreek Hill, and Christian McCaffrey.
Before joining the Saints, Thomas was the running backs coach at the University of Arkansas from 2013 to 2014. He
held the same job at the University of Washington for the previous four seasons (2009-12).
Thomas also served as running backs coach at Purdue (2000-01 and 2006-08), Louisville (2002-03), and Idaho (2004-05).
Thomas lettered as running back at the University of Idaho from 1993 to 1998, when he was a two-time first-team
All-Big West pick and conference Player of the Year as a senior. He currently maintains Vandals’ career records of
3,929 rushing yards, 51 rushing touchdowns, and 765 rushing attempts. He was inducted into the University of
Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008. Thomas received his bachelor’s degree in public communication in 1998.
He replaces Jeff Nixon, who departed the Giants after one season to become Syracuse University’s offensive coordinator.
