Jeff Ulbrich received 'great support' from Falcons after son's Shedeur Sanders prank call

USA Today

21-05-2025

Jeff Ulbrich received 'great support' from Falcons after son's Shedeur Sanders prank call
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Jeff Ulbrich found himself in hot water after the 2025 NFL Draft, when it was revealed his son had prank called Shedeur Sanders after obtaining the Colorado quarterback's phone number from his father's open iPad.
Despite this, Ulbrich revealed Wednesday he never felt like he was in danger of losing his job as the Atlanta Falcons' defensive coordinator.
"In all honesty, I never went there, but I felt nothing but support from the organization in every single way – from the people that worked the line in the cafeteria to (owner) Mr. (Arthur) Blank himself, all of them," Ulbrich said Wednesday, per ESPN's Marc Raimondi. "I felt great support from him. It was one of the biggest reasons, in all honesty, that I came back here because of the organization and what I think of this building."
Ulbrich previously coached with the Falcons from 2015 to 2020. He initially served as the team's linebackers coach before receiving a promotion to assistant head coach for the 2020 campaign. Eventually, he served as the team's interim defensive coordinator after Raheem Morris was elevated to replace Dan Quinn.
Morris and Ulbrich decided to team up again after the Falcons fired defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake following the 2024 season. Ulbrich spent the previous four seasons with the New York Jets. He spent most of the 2024 campaign serving as the team's interim coach, leading the squad to a 3-9 record following the Week 5 dismissal of Robert Saleh.
Ulbrich was excited to return to Atlanta, and was thrilled when the Falcons landed two first-round pass rushers – Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. – to supplement their defense.
However, things quickly became complicated after Jax Ulbrich's prank call became the center of attention for the elder Ulbrich.
"I mean, it was a roller coaster of emotions," Jeff Ulbrich said of draft weekend. "It was great joy and elation, and so rare in the draft that things fall to you in that way. … And then obviously we had some challenges from a football perspective and from a building perspective and, for me, from a personal perspective and for my family. But it's all the things that I'm convinced that make you stronger. I do. And I live by that and my family lives by that. And because of that, we'll be better off because of all this."
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Ulbrich is also lighter in the wallet because of the incident. He was fined $100,000 for the prank call incident while the Falcons organization was slapped with a $250,000 penalty. Neither party appealed the fine, nor did Atlanta add any excess punishment for Ulbrich.
Both of the Ulbrichs apologized for the incident, with Jeff giving a statement in a late-April news conference and Jax calling Sanders to apologize before posting a written statement to social media.
The younger Ulbrich may not be out of the woods yet, as his father and family weigh whether to levy additional discipline against the Ole Miss student.
"We're still working through that, but it was a challenge for our family," Ulbrich said. "But it's a challenge that everyone in our family's up for. And like I said, it's going to make my son better because of it. He will."