Thomas Merkle enters his first season with the New York Jets as the team's offensive assistant/assistant quarterbacks, following six seasons serving in various roles at Stanford (2020-25).

As the quarterbacks coach at Stanford (2025), Merkle was part of the program's first year-over-year improvement since 2015 as the school secured their most wins since 2020. Quarterback Ben Gulbranson threw for 444 yards in a comeback win vs. San Jose State, the third-most passing yards in a single-game in Cardinal history.

Merkle originally joined Stanford as an offensive graduate assistant (2020-23) and offensive quality control analyst (2024). Throughout his time with the Cardinal, he worked with a variety of position groups, including: offensive line, wide receivers, and quarterbacks, in addition to assisting with the gunners on special teams.

A York, PA native, Merkle set 14 conference and school records as a four-year quarterback at Kenyon College (2016-19), earning NCAC Rookie of the Year honors (2016). He was selected to the all-conference team following his senior season (2019), finishing his career with 10,227 passing yards and 61 touchdowns.

Merkle earned his bachelor's degree in history and German from Kenyon College and later earned his master's in liberal arts from Stanford while serving on the coaching staff.

FLIGHT PATH

New York Jets 2026-Present

Offensive Assistant/Assistant Quarterbacks 2026-Present

Stanford 2025

Quarterbacks 2025

Offensive Quality Control Analyst 2024

Offensive Graduate Assistant  2020-23