It was at the third stop of his NFL journey, New Orleans in 2016, that Chris Banjo first crossed paths with Aaron Glenn.

Banjo had been an undrafted safety in 2013 who latched on with Jacksonville and then moved to Green Bay, leading the Packers in special teams tackles in 2015. He took that particular skill to Crescent City where he continued his stellar play on kickoffs and punt returns.

Now Banjo, 35, is part of the Jets' new coaching staff as the special teams coordinator, and the head coach is the guy who was the Saints' defensive backs coach is now his boss -- Glenn.

"If I'm being completely honest and transparent, and I'm not just saying that because I'm fortunate enough to be a part of this new coaching staff," Banjo said. "But when I was first got to New Orleans, back in 2016, he used to preach a lot of same things when we talked about some of that culture, and we were fortunate enough to kind of do some special things there. But it started with the seed that he planted, and I think he's already done that here, and we're very, very excited to see where that ends up."

Banjo conceded that during his 10 years as a player in the NFL, he rarely thought of and never really considered staying in the game as a coach.

"I had no clue," he said. "I honestly used to talk a lot of mess about coaches coming up from high school, college, the NFL. 'No, I'm never going to coach,' whatever the case may be. But I was always fortunate enough and blessed to be able to get the tag of being a coach on the field or helping young guys come along. And I always took pride in that. So as I got older and as I've matured a little bit when people start to throw that around, I kind of can start to see it a little bit."

During three seasons in New Orleans, Banjo saw limited time on the field playing safety but took more than 700 snaps on special teams and impressed Glenn with his ability to see the big picture.

"Banjo would be the one to ask those questions to make sure everyone knew exactly what we were doing," Glenn said during this year's NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. "So, there was no doubt in my mind that he would be a coach, but he also was a proven special teamer in New Orleans. He understood what his role was. And listen, he didn't take that lightly. And I'm huge when it comes to specials because it could really change the nature of a game when you have a big-time special teams play. And he's going to give that to us. So, there's no better person for that job than Chris Banjo."

Banjo, whose full name is Ayokunmi Christopher Oluwaseun Banjo, came to the Jets after serving as Denver's assistant special teams coach, where Jets GM Darren Mougey began his NFL career as a scouting intern.

The opening of training camp is still months away, but the Jets will have a new punter and a new placekicker, in addition to auditioning a corps of returners. Xavier Gipson led the Jets last season with 17 kickoff and 33 punt returns, but Banjo said he's been impressed with the potential of fourth-round draft pick Arian Smith, a speedy WR.

"It's just competitive as hell," Banjo said. "Competitive as hell. Sometimes I like to call it a lost art, because not many organizations really emphasize it. But I think we're very, very fortunate to have a head coach who really believes in the approach of special teams, so when we step on the field, we just want to make sure we're competing every single play."