Thomas has never coached in the NFL, but the Saints are familiar with him since he served as a training camp intern with the Saints in 2012. He did the same with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2008.

Thomas spent the past two years as Arkansas’ running backs coach. Before that he spent four years at Washington, where he also added the title of associate head coach in his final season. He has coached running backs at Purdue, Idaho and Louisville.

It’s unclear what that means for current Saints running backs coach Dan Roushar -- though it’s possible Roushar could fill New Orleans’ vacancy as the tight ends coach since he coached tight ends for the previous two years at Michigan State before joining the Saints’ staff in 2013.