The Falcoholic
Strong ties to Raheem Morris make Ulbrich a strong candidate.
Jeff Ulbrich and Raheem Morris shared a coaching staff for a long time for the Atlanta Falcons, including a 2020 season that saw Dan Quinn fired and Ulbrich taking on the defensive coordinator role while Morris took over as interim head coach. Given those strong ties, it’s little surprise that Ulbrich is interviewing for the team’s defensive coordinator opening.
Ulbrich’s interview is complete, making him the second known conducted interview and putting him on a list of candidates that now includes Steve Wilks, Wink Martindale, and Lou Anarumo.
Ulbrich enjoyed a ten year career in the NFL with the 49ers as a linebacker before moving into the coaching ranks. He began as an assistant special teams coach with the Seahawks and transitioned to coaching linebackers at UCLA before joining the Falcons coaching staff under Quinn in 2015, taking over as the linebackers coach and gradually growing his responsibilities from there. When Quinn was fired, he took over as the defensive coordinator and did a solid job of it, and that brief exposure got him hired as the Jets defensive coordinator from there. Ulbrich took over as the interim head coach of the Jets this year after Robert Saleh was fired, and predictably given the state of the Jets and that it was his first head coaching stint, it did not go well.
Ulbrich would likely be a boon for Atlanta’s linebackers if hired, given his wealth of playing and coaching experience, and did a good enough job in 2020 and as the defensive coordinator of a talented Jets defense to think he’ll be a marked improvement over Jimmy Lake. His 2022 and 2023 Jets work was quite good, which is part of the reason Ulbrich got the interim nod in the first place.
Of course, while the work is important, so is the connection for Morris. He brought Lake on board because he knew and trusted him, and his ties to Ulbrich are deep thanks to that shared time, especially during a difficult 2020 season. The fact that Ulbrich is now a seasoned defensive coordinator and knows Morris so well make him an obvious favorite for this job.
We’ll see if he’s hired, as the Falcons likely aren’t done lining up their interviews just yet.
