February 7, 2025
The Jets have officially hired their offensive, special teams, and defensive coordinators.
First, the Jets hired former 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks to become defensive coordinator. Wilks has a long coaching career from 1997 when he was Savannah State's defensive coordinator.
In the NFL, Wilks was most notably Cardinals HC, Panthers Interim HC, where he went 9-19 in those stints, Browns DC, Panthers DC, and 49ers DC. His most successful time, however, came in 2023 when he was the 49ers' defensive coordinator and that year the 49ers were tied for the highest PFF grade, 8th in total defense, 3rd in rushing, 14th in passing, 3rd in scoring, 3rd in sacks and, 2nd in interceptions.
The next coach the Jets hired was Tanner Engstrand for their offensive coordinator job. The 42-year-old has worked on the offensive side of the ball since he started his coaching career as a Graduate Assistant for the San Diego Chargers in 2005. Back in 2020 Engstrand joined the Lions coaching staff as an offensive assistant and moved up to 2023 as pass game coordinator where he has held the job since, in 2023 the Lions had the 2nd overall passing offense in the league and 2nd in the league in 2024.
Lastly, the Jets hired Chris Banjo to replace Brant Boyer as special teams coordinator, who held the position since 2016 before leaving this past offseason for the 49ers special teams coordinator job. Banjo held the Broncos assistant special teams coordinator from 2023-2024, but before that, he was in the NFL for 10 years, playing with four different teams as a predominant special teams player.
The Jets will now go through the hiring process for assistant and positional coaches.