The Falcons were not shy about saying they’d like the next head coach to keep Jeff Ulbrich around, and why not? Ulbrich, his staff, and Atlanta’s roster conspired to set the franchise record for sacks in a single season, improved in almost every defensive category you can think of, and had a rare streak of sub-200 yard passing games last season. They did so in a year where few of us expected real leaps, and in a year where the roster holes on the defense were real and significant.
With Kevin Stefanski’s
hire, the team will indeed be keeping Ulbrich. per NFL insider Ian Rapoport. It ensures continuity on defense, allowing the team to build on their 2025 performance if they can enhance the roster, and will hopefully help the Falcons avoid the Ryan Nielsen-to-Jimmy Lake fiasco of 2023/2024.
The longtime NFL linebacker first got a taste of being a team’s defensive coordinator in 2020 with Atlanta, after he was promoted under interim head coach Raheem Morris. While his defense wasn’t great that year, it was much better than the unit that Dan Quinn and Morris had put on the field during the first five games, and Ulbrich turned that stint into a role as Robert Saleh’s defensive coordinator with the Jets. After a rough first year, Ulbrich’s defenses reeled off four straight years of top five finishes in total yardage allowed and two top twelve finishes in points allowed. After he took over as interim head coach for Saleh, that defense cratered, but Ulbrich was quickly reunited with Morris in Atlanta in 2025, lifting a unit that had badly underperformed under Jimmy Lake.
To keep his job over the long haul—or turn it into a full-time head coaching gig—Ulbrich will need to have this Falcons defense playing even better ball in 2026 and beyond. He’ll need to ensure the Falcons have reserves who are ready to go in the event of injury after the team’s slow pivots away from the likes of JD Bertrand and mix-and-match solutions for an injured Mike Hughes hurt them badly at times. Atlanta will need to stock the cupboard for him, but for the Falcons to take the next step, they do also need Ulbrich and his staff to squeeze even more out of the talent on the roster. Their work with this young pass rush and standouts like rookie safety Xavier Watts make us believe that can be done.
With Morris gone, it was fair to wonder if Ulbrich would stick around; the Falcons blocked him from interviewing for the same role in Dallas. Now Stefanski has decided to entrust the defense to him once more, and Ulbrich will look to show it was indeed a wise decision.
