After a six-year playing career in the NFL, including his last four seasons with Dallas, Darian Thompson joined the Cowboys coaching staff in 2023.
Thompson's familiarity with the current coaching staff runs deep, as he played two years (2020-21) under Head Coach Mike McCarthy and played meaningful roles on Dan Quinn's defense and John Fassel's special teams unit.
Thompson begins the second phase of his football career in coaching after playing safety for six seasons in the NFL - two with the N.Y Giants (2016-17) and four with Dallas (2018-21). He was originally drafted in the third round (71st overall) by the N.Y. Giants out of Boise State. Thompson appeared in 18 games with 17 starts in his two seasons with the Giants.
After Dallas plucked him off the Cardinals practice squad in 2018, he was a key special teams contributor for the Cowboys before earning the starting safety job in 2020, a position he held until Donovan Wilson took over in Week 8. Thompson finished 2020 with 51 tackles and an interception.
In five years at Boise State, including his redshirt season as a freshman, Thompson was a two-time All-Mountain West first-team selection (2014-15) who played in 51 games with 44 starts. He finished his career with 242 tackles and a Mountain West Conference record 19 interceptions.
Thompson was an All-CIF and All-Valley Defensive MVP as a two-way player at Paraclete High School in Lancaster, Calif.
Thompson and his wife, Chelsey, have three daughters, Novah, Nya and Naomi, and a son, Ty.
