The San Francisco 49ers shouldn’t be leaving any stones unturned in their search for a special teams coordinator who might be able to improve their special teams unit.
That includes looking into coaches who may not have a ton of experience, which is the route they went when interviewing Denver Broncos assistant special teams coach Chris Banjo. NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo first reported the interview.
Banjo only entered the coaching ranks in 2023, but he wasted no time getting into coaching after his 10-year NFL career. He was an undrafted rookie signing by the Jacksonville Jaguars after the 2013 draft. Banjo also spent time with the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals.
His final NFL season was 2022, then Denver hired him as their assistant special teams coach the next year. While Banjo doesn’t have any experience playing under Broncos special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica, he does have a connection to Denver via their defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. Joseph was the DC for the Cardinals during Banjo’s entire tenure there.
Banjo was listed as a defensive back during his career but he primarily contributed on special teams. He played a career-high 436 defensive snaps under Joseph during the 2020 season. That nearly eclipsed the 512 defensive snaps he played during his other nine seasons combined.
It’s not a surprise Banjo landed as a special teams coach given his expertise in that facet. His career also included more than 2,400 special teams snaps.
Perhaps the 49ers are aiming for a younger set of eyes to look at what they’re doing on special teams after leaning on veterans like Richard Hightower and Brian Schneider during head coach Kyle Shanahan’s tenure. It would be a risky switch, but given the team’s struggles with their special teams units, it may be a risk worth taking.
