FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Jeff Ulbrich entered the press room Monday and shook hands with every member of the assembled media. In some cases, it wasn’t so much of an introduction as a reconnection with some familiar faces.
Ulbrich, the former New York Jets interim head coach, was introduced as the defensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons on Monday. Before the Jets, Ulbrich coached with the Falcons from 2015 to 2020 as the linebackers coach, assistant head coach and interim defensive coordinator.
“It’s coming home for me,” Ulbrich said.
Ulbrich worked in Atlanta under then-head coach Dan Quinn. When Quinn was fired in 2020, Raheem Morris was named interim head coach and he elevated Ulbrich to interim defensive coordinator. Now, Morris is the full-time head coach of the Falcons, going into his second season, and he hired Ulbrich, his good friend, nine days ago.
“It’s funny, because Raheem and I have a very close relationship, but I love the fact that we turned this interview into a very official interview where it wasn’t just Rah and myself just chopping it up like buddies,” Ulbrich said.
Ulbrich, a 10-year NFL veteran as a linebacker, said he still shares the same core principles as he did when he coached in Atlanta years ago. But he said his “football brain” is completely different now. Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all schemes and systems that remain static. Offensive coordinators now are “pains in my butt,” Ulbrich said.
“They watch your tape, they learn your rules, and then they beat you ways that you’ve never been beat before,” Ulbrich said. “So, because of that, you need more variety in coverage, you need more multiplicity in the front, you need more scheme. And so that’s where I’ve changed completely.”
Ulbrich said over the next few weeks he’ll sit down and go over what the Falcons did on defense in 2024 and start adapting to what the scheme could look like in 2025. The system will be collaborative, Ulbrich said, with input from Morris was as well as assistant head coach Jerry Gray and new defensive pass game coordinator Mike Rutenberg, who coached with Ulbrich in New York.
The Falcons will be “multiple,” Ulbrich said, running some 3-4 and 4-3. Atlanta has struggled with its pass rush for years. In 2024, the Falcons were second worst in sacks (31) and second worst in quarterback pressure percentage (28.1%). Ulbrich said that will be the “top priority.”
“You can’t thrive in this league from a defensive perspective without a good pass rush,” Ulbrich said.
With that said, Ulbrich said he hopes to unlock the “super powers” of the Falcons’ top defensive players and think outside the box, potentially creating “something that’s maybe never been done before.”
The two biggest things he learned as interim head coach with the Jets were delegating and truth-telling, Ulbrich said. When New York fired Robert Saleh as head coach in October, Ulbrich was named interim head coach. But he said he never gave up the duties of defensive coordinator, which he regrets.
He also noted that people started talking to him differently once he became head coach, and he wants to make sure Morris knows he won’t steer him in the wrong direction.
“It was like I felt the shift, and the way people talked to me and treated me, and what they said to me and the lack of truth sometimes was really detrimental,” Ulbrich said. “So, it reinforced the idea that Rah is going to need me in that way to make sure that I’m always telling him the truth and maybe eliminating some of the blind spots that he doesn’t see.”
The Falcons went 8-9 and missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season, largely because of a lackluster defense. Atlanta fired first-year defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake on Jan. 11.
Source: www.espn.com