Long-time special teamer Chris Banjo, who played his first games in the NFL as an undrafted free agent signed by the Green Bay Packers, has been named the special teams coordinator of the New York Jets. The team announced the hiring on Friday.
Banjo spent the last two seasons as the assistant special teams coordinator for the Denver Broncos under Sean Payton and Mike Westhoff. Now, Banjo will lead a special teams unit for the first time under first-year head coach Aaron Glenn in New York.
Banjo, now 34, retired from the NFL in 2023. He played in 131 career games (and 10 playoff games) and was on the field for almost 2,500 total special teams snaps while playing for three different franchises — the Packers, New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals.
Banjo went undrafted out of SMU. Packers general manager Ted Thompson signed him in late July before the start of training camp in 2013, and Banjo almost immediately became a core special teamer in Green Bay.
As a first-year player, Banjo played over 250 special teams snaps. In 2015, Banjo led the team in special teams tackles and was a playoff captain on special teams. He was waived by the Packers with an injury settlement in 2016.
Banjo played three seasons with the Saints and four seasons with the Cardinals after departing Green Bay.
According to the Jets, Banjo made 58 tackles covering kickoffs in his NFL career.