New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced today that Joey Thomas, Patrick Carter, Dele Harding and Nick Williams will assist the Saints coaching staff for the 2026 preseason, as part of the Bill Walsh NFL Diversity Coaching Fellowship program, bringing a wealth of experience and success to the team in training camp.
Thomas was originally a third round pick (70th overall) of the Green Bay Packers in the 2004 NFL Draft out of Montana State, where he was a standout cornerback. In four seasons with the Packers (2004-05), Saints (2005), Miami Dolphins (2008) and Oakland Raiders (2010), the Seattle, Wash. native played in 31 regular season games with one start and had career totals of 31 tackles, four pass breakups, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and eight special teams tackles. Thomas retired from pro football in 2011 and served as head coach at Ballard High School and Garfield High School in his hometown of Seattle before joining the college coaching ranks at Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College in 2019. Thomas then coached at FAU and Texas, before arriving at the University of Nevada in 2024, where he currently serves as passing game coordinator/secondary for the Wolf Pack.
Carter currently serves as Assistant Pass Game Coordinator/Senior Assistant Offensive Coach for Skill Development at the University of Mississippi, a member of their coaching staff since 2023. The St. Petersburg, Fla. native played both quarterback and wide receiver at Georgia Tech and Louisville from 2004-07 and then signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2009, serving stints with the Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks and Miami Dolphins practice squads. After finishing his playing career with the CFL's Toronto Argonauts in 2013, Carter first entered the private sector before becoming joining the high school coaching ranks in 2017.
Harding will work with the Saints staff this summer after servng as the Dallas Cowboys quaterbacks fellowship coach in 2025. Harding served as the assistant running backs coach at his alma mater, Illinois, in 2024 when the fighting Illini went 10-3, tying the single-season record for wins. Prior to his Illinois stint, Harding spent 2023 as a defensive assistant at the University of Houston and began his coaching career as a defensive assistant for the Houston Texans in 2022. He also served as a defensive assistant for the Indianapolis Colts during training camp in 2023 and with the Cleveland Browns during OTAs in spring, 2024, both as part of the Bill Walsh NFL Diversity Fellowship program. A standout linebacker for Illinois from 2016-19, the two-time team captain was voted the team's Defensive MVP in 2019 and earned first-team All-Big Ten after ranking second in the nation and first in the conference with 153 tackles.
Williams joins the Saints for training camp following the conclusion of a ten-year NFL career as a defensive tackle. Originally a seventh round draft pick (223rd overall) of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2013 out of Samford, Williams played for Pittsburgh (2013), the Kansas City Chiefs (2014-16), Miami Dolphins (2016), Chicago Bears (2018-19), Detroit Lions (2020-21), New York Giants (2022) and Los Angeles Chargers (2023). In 97 regular season games with 48 starts, he made 157 career tackles (83 solo), 8.5 sacks, seven pass breakups and four forced fumbles. The Birmingham, Ala. native also played in two playoff games for the Chiefs and the Dolphins and made one assisted tackle.
Established in 1987, the Bill Walsh NFL Diversity Coaching Fellowship program provides NFL coaching experience to a diverse group of participants every year. The program is named after the man who conceived the idea – late Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Bill Walsh – and exposes talented minority college coaches, high school coaches and former players to the methods and philosophies of NFL coaching staffs. Walsh introduced the concept to the league in 1987, when he brought a group of aspiring minority coaches into his San Francisco 49ers' training camp.
