What makes the Falcons bringing back Jeff Ulbrich as their defensive coordinator so unique
Like in an old noir movie, the Atlanta Falcons once again looked to the past to find their future.
For the second straight offseason, the franchise brought back a coach from its 2020 interim staff in the same role they had before they left.
In January 2024, Raheem Morris took over as the Falcons’ permanent head coach after earning an interim coaching role after Dan Quinn’s October 2020 firing.
In January 2025, former New York Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich was hired as the team’s defensive coordinator after working in that same role in an interim capacity with Morris after Quinn’s firing.
It’s a really fascinating turn of events that, after the Falcons had a chance to hire both Morris and Ulbrich after their solid showings as interim coaches in 2020, the franchise did just that all these years later.
The Falcons having a good defense comes around as often as a snowstorm on a leap year. The Falcons having a good pass-rushing group comes around as often as Halley’s Comet. Ulbrich will be tasked to make both regular happenings in Atlanta. It is as tall a task as anyone has in the NFL lately.
Ulbrich coached linebackers in Atlanta from 2015-20, and he was part of the coaching staff that got Atlanta to Super Bowl 51 (where things started well and … didn’t end well). He’s another example of the franchise prioritizing familiarity over the unknown, which can be comforting and limiting in equal measure. Perhaps he’s the right guy for the moment; perhaps he’s another retread hire that should’ve been made four years ago. It’ll be on him to make do with what he has and prove the best-case scenario right.
Atlanta isn’t bereft of defensive talent. The team has two of the best secondary players in the NFL with safety Jessie Bates III and cornerback A.J. Terrell. The team also has a star linebacker in Kaden Elliss, a stalwart veteran defensive tackle in Grady Jarrett and emerging young players like outside linebacker Arnold Ebkietie and defensive end Zach Harrison.
However, Atlanta needs more defensive talent in both phases of the offseason and to better develop young players on the roster like defensive tackles Ruke Orhorhoro and Brandon Dorlus, outside linebacker Bralen Trice and cornerback Clark Phillips III. Again, Ulbrich will have plenty to do in his first year back in Flowery Branch.
Indeed, defensive coordinator hires are ultimately only as good as the players given to them to scheme for, so it’ll be imperative for Ulbrich and company to assemble an Atlanta defense that hearkens closely to what the former Jets coach had in New York (if that’s even possible).
At the least, it’s fascinating for Atlanta how all roads lately have led right back to one of the worst seasons in franchise history. Perhaps Morris and Ulbrich will find much more success a second time out together than they had while valiantly trying to save an already lost Falcons season in 2020.