When the Atlanta Falcons hired Kevin Stefanski, he basically gutted their staff from the ground up. While bringing in several of his own guys, he only kept one high-profile assistant coach: Jeff Ulbrich. And the continuity in retaining Ulbrich at defensive coordinator is their biggest win of the offseason.
Before the Falcons ever hired Stefanski, they were blocking DC interview requests Ulbrich picked up. They were planning to keep the 49-year-old before Stefanski ever came into the picture, but once they hired him, he felt comfortable keeping him on staff despite having no familiarity with each other.
Stefanski hasn't spent much time working alongside Ulbrich, but it hasn't taken him long to make a strong impression. While addressing the media during OTAs, he spoke on his new coordinator's invitation to the NFL accelerator program, which saw him miss the first two days of Falcons' OTAs.
"He's more than deserving for that opportunity," Stefanski said. "It's important that he's there, and he lets people know who he is."
Kevin Stefanski knows Falcons' DC Jeff Ulbrich deserves a head coaching job
The two-time Coach of the Year is well aware that the NFL is a business where top-flight assistants (and executives) get poached all the time. When a better opportunity (or a promotion) comes along, it's typically a difficult offer to turn down, especially when several people dream being a head coach.
Typically, the ones who get invited to the accelerator program are coaches and executives are who have a future as head coaches and general managers. It's for high-potential candidates, and if you look at what he accomplished with the Dirty Birds, that's precisely how we (and Stefanski) should describe Jeff Ulbrich.
Coach Brich' turned this defense around basically overnight in 2025 and was invited alongside many coaches who made waves during the last coaching carousel. But he's a little different from the other assistants who were invited, as he has prior coaching experience from his 12 games as the interim coach of the New York Jets after Robert Saleh was fired.
Not only did the accelerator program offer Ulbrich the chance to build connections that could shape his coaching staff if/when he gets his shot as a head coach. But It also gave him the opportunity to connect with future GMs who could have the synergy with him to covet him as their coach of choice.
With he way this Falcons' defense improved in 2025, if they continue to improve in 2026, Stefanski wouldn't be surprised to see Ulbrich get head coaching interviews in the near future--and like he mentioned, it's hard to argue he doesn't deserve that opportunity.
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