NFL teams average more than 20 assistant coaches on their staffs these days but few, if any, of these individuals have had as rapid a rise in coaching circles than NFL alum Chris Banjo.
Banjo, 35, was hired as special teams coordinator last winter by new Jets head coach Aaron Glenn. He only two years ago announced he was retiring after playing nine NFL seasons with the Packers, Saints and Cardinals.
Banjo played with the Saints from 2016-18 when Sean Payton was the team’s head coach and Aaron Glenn was defensive backfield coach. The player obviously made a positive impression on both men, who have been major factors in his brief coaching career.
When Payton became Broncos head coach in 2023, he contacted his former Saints player about transitioning into the coaching profession. Payton called him even before Banjo made his retirement announcement public on his Twitter account.
“I was a little taken aback by it,” Banjo recently told The Athletic, “but then Sean obviously got into the details of it, and I was like, now it makes sense.”
Banjo signed with the Broncos that same week as his initial phone call with Payton. He became assistant special teams coach under veteran coordinator Ben Kotwica, who early on was impressed by young Banjo’s coaching qualities.
“When you cross that line into coaching,” Kotwica says, “you’re no longer peers with the players….you’re responsible for them and in charge of them. There’s an element there where you mature from: ‘Hey, I just want to be liked by them’ to ‘Hey, I just want to be respected.’ I think Chris did a great job at that.”
Glenn is preparing for his first regular season as Jets head coach and he appreciates the personnel asset he has in Banjo.
“If you just get a chance to watch how Chris interacts with individual players and his ability to interact with a number of players in a team meeting setting,” explains Glenn, “he does a really good job at that. He’s very energetic; he’s everything you want in a special teams coach. He’ll eventually be one of the better coaches in the league. I know that for a fact”.
Banjo was an undrafted rookie out of SMU in 2012, who initially worked a 9-5 job as a business recruiter while waiting for an NFL club to contact him. He stayed in shape by working out three hours by himself each morning before he commuted to his paid job. He had tryouts with a couple of teams that first year but it was not until early 2013 that the Jaguars signed him. However, they cut him before training camp even opened. The Packers picked him up that same summer and his NFL playing career began.
“Whenever I do get a chance to just stop and think about it,” he told The Athletic, “it definitely is crazy. But I just do my best to put one foot in front of the other and take it day by day. It is something I try to stress to the guys on the Jets right now.”
We will be following our alumni brothers Chris Banjo and Aaron Glenn this season and wish them much success with their new Jets team.
