Atlanta Falcons: One coach has earned a spot for 2021

There is one coach that the Atlanta Falcons should retain in 2021.

The Atlanta Falcons are 4-2 under interim head coach Raheem Morris, and are 60 seconds away from being 5-1 had they gotten a stop against the Detroit Lions. While the fan base is split on keeping on Raheem Morris at the end of the season, one of his assistants should be kept.

We are talking about interim defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.

When Dan Quinn was fired, the Atlanta Falcons were 0-5 but more importantly had the last-ranked defense in every statistical category and if we are being honest, there is zero reasons for that have been the case, given their initial five-game schedule was not daunting.

However, under the direction of Ulbrich, the Falcons have gone from the worst scoring and total defense in the NFL to the 16th overall scoring defense. In the last two weeks, they have improved from 24th to 16th.

Given they have played two teams that are either playoff-bound or fighting for a playoff spot, that is impressive.

With four remaining games against the Saints, Buccaneers, and Chiefs, we will find out how just how far this defense has come under his direction in a very short time.

Hidden underneath Dan Quinn’s nose the entire time.

In 2019, when former Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn changed up his coaching staff during the bye-week, Ulbrich took over a majority of the defensive coordinator responsibilities and they improved dramatically as well.

The question becomes, if he has engineered such a great turnaround, why has one of Dan Quinn’s original hires back in 2015 never gotten the nod to actually be the defensive coordinator? Instead, we have had to watch three others underachieve while the mastermind was sitting in the room all along.

Though, that should give us a clue as to why Dan Quinn was not successful – his inability to recognize proper coaching talent – on both sides of the ball.

If you need more specific proof, simply look at the development of Deion Jones and Foye Oloukun under his coaching.

We obviously don’t know what will happen with the coaching vacancy, but the new head coach should think long and hard about keeping Jeff Ulbrich on the staff. He has proven he can coach at an elite level in this league.