MOBILE, Ala. — Joel Thomas called plays at the Senior Bowl last year, so when the chance arose to be involved in this year’s game, the New Orleans Saints running backs coach knew he wanted to participate again.

But this time, the opportunity came with a promotion. Thomas jumped at the chance to be the head coach of one of the two teams participating in the college prospect all-star event.

“(Last year was) the first time I’ve ever called plays,” Thomas said. “So you get that itch.”

But as he’s gone through Senior Bowl week, Thomas has seen an even greater benefit to coaching in the game — one that extends beyond his personal ambitions. He knows that this week is extremely valuable for the Saints, too.

In addition to Thomas serving as the head coach of the American team, Saints quarterbacks coach Scott Tolzien (offensive coordinator), linebackers coach Peter Sirmon (defensive coordinator) and special-teams assistant Kyle Wilber (special-teams coordinator) are contributing in key roles on Thomas’ staff.

The hope — and perhaps belief — is that getting the chance to actually coach the prospects in this year’s Senior Bowl will serve as an advantage come April when the Saints are tasked with following up last year’s successful draft class with another transformative haul.

“The more knowledge we get, that knowledge is power,” said Jeff Ireland, the Saints’ assistant general manager and college scouting director. “The more knowledge we have, the more comfortable we are in our conviction that we have as a staff collaboratively to take the player.”

Ireland said nothing significantly changed about the team’s process that ended with last year’s haul. But the reality is the Saints had arguably their best draft since 2017, coming away with potential cornerstones at quarterback (Tyler Shough) and left tackle (Kelvin Banks Jr.) and at least two defensive starters (Quincy Riley, Jonas Sanker). ESPN ranked the Saints as having the league’s most impactful draft class in 2025.

But if there was one significant difference, it was the Saints’ new coaching staff. Ireland praised the group — led by first-year coach Kellen Moore — as having a “great vision” on what type of player would fit their roster. That vision also changed because of the new scheme in place. Ireland, for instance, noted edge rushers in defensive coordinator Brandon Staley’s defense don’t need to be nearly as big and powerful as what former coach Dennis Allen preferred.

“The clearer the vision of what they can give to us, the better we can go out and find it,” Ireland said. “They were very clear in what they wanted.”

The Senior Bowl may help further develop that vision. While the Saints’ coaches have preconceived preferences for what they want in a player, this week allows those participating to get an up-close look at prospects. Rather than spending 20 minutes with a player in a formal interview, members of the Saints staff have this week to see how they react in various settings, Thomas said.

And the Saints will trust their coaches. Ireland said he and his scouts are focused largely on the National team, since they will refer back to the insights Thomas and Co. gleaned from coaching the American squad.

“It is a good advantage for us, because we get a lot of good information on the players that are here,” said Saints general manager Mickey Loomis, who noted New Orleans has nine assistants participating between the Senior Bowl and the recently concluded East-West Shrine Bowl.

If they hit as well as they did last year on another draft, Ireland knows the difference it could make. On Wednesday, the executive was asked about the leap the New England Patriots made from going 4-13 in 2024 to 13-4 in 2025 with a Super Bowl appearance on tap. Like New Orleans will have next year, the Patriots had a promising quarterback (Drake Maye) entering Year 2. And that offseason, the Patriots found the right pieces to support him.

Does Ireland see a parallel between the situations?

“Man, I hope so,” Ireland said. “That’d be great. That’d be fantastic. I’d be lying if I wasn’t thinking it already.”