5 quick takeaways for Falcons fans from Jeff Ulbrich’s news conference
MOBILE, Ala. — Nine days after being named the defensive coordinator of the Falcons, Jeff Ulbrich spoke to the Atlanta media for nearly 20 minutes Monday.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Michael Cunningham was in attendance in Flowery Branch, while beat writer D. Orlando Ledbetter listened on the team’s YouTube channel while on the way to the Senior Bowl in Mobile.
Here are five quick takeaways for fans of the Falcons:
1. Multiplicity: The Falcons ran a 3-4 alignment last season under former defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake. The New York Jets, where Ulbrich coached for the past four seasons, ran a 4-3 base defense.
“Defensive football has changed in so many ways,” Ulbrich said. “If we look back 15, 20 years ago. There were 3-4 teams and there were 4-3 teams. You were one or the other. It’s not that way anymore.”
Defenses have to catch up to the evolution of offensive play in the NFL, including more mobile quarterbacks.
“Offenses have jumped off the playbook,” Ulbrich said. “It has really forced us from a defensive standpoint to get more multiplicity in all that we do. Front-wise. Coverage-wise. All of that. We’re going to be multiple. We’re going to do some unique things that are going to be 3-4ish and 4-3ish at times. I think the multiplicity is necessary now days.”
2. Pass-rush plan: Ulbrich used “get the quarterback of the spot” and “affect the quarterback” card when discussing the pass-rush. He threw in getting sacks with that. The Falcons were 31st in sacks last season.
“There is no great defense ever in this league that didn’t affect the quarterback,” Ulbrich said. “You’ve got to affect the quarterback in two ways, either you affect him physically and get him off the spot. Sack him. Hit him. Or we affect him from the standpoint of a coverage perspective and try to confuse him.”
3. In-game adjustments: Ulbrich plans to study the defense the Falcons played last season for two weeks. He discussed the importance of having in-game answers for how an offenses may plan to attack during games.
4. Collaborative operation: Ulbrich said that he’s going to call the plays on game day.
“This is going to be a collaboration at the highest level between Raheem, myself, (assistant head coach/defense) Jerry Gray and (defensive pass-game coordinator) Mike Rutenberg,” Ulbrich said. “We have an amazing defensive staff.”
The defensive staff has a major reconstruction project. The unit was ranked in the bottom half of the league in three of the four key categories.
“It would be criminal of me not to take advantage of the those guys,” Ulbrich said. “We’re going to have some hard conversations.”
5. More than just friends: Ulbrich believes his friendship with coach Raheem Morris wasn’t a factor in the interview process. He was on the Falcons' staff with Morris under former coach Dan Quinn from 2015-20.
“It wasn’t just Rah and myself chopping it up like buddies,” Ulbrich said. “It was, I thought they were very thorough, asked amazing questions. It was a great opportunity for myself to get to know (team officials) and for them to get to know me. Everybody else in the organization that I didn’t’ have previous experience with. It was an amazing interview process.”
About the Author
Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.
