Jeff Ulbrich Scheme, Coverage: Falcons' Changes Under New Defensive Coordinator

Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich doesn't want to be pigeonholed into one specific scheme.

Hired to fix Atlanta's defense Jan. 18, Ulbrich played linebacker for a decade in the NFL and has spent the past 15 years in various coaching roles, capped by a 12-game stint as the New York Jets' interim head coach this past season.

Ulbrich spent six years in Atlanta from 2015-20. He said his defensive mind has changed since then -- and his approach to playing defense has, too.

"If we look back 15, 20 years ago, there were 3-4 teams and there were 4-3 teams, and you were one or the other. It's not that way anymore," Ulbrich said Jan. 27. "Offenses have jumped off the playbook. The day and age of 2-by-2 normal spacing, lines, that day of offensive football is gone.

"You've got designer drop back. You have designer run game. You have all this stuff that has become very challenging from a defensive perspective."

As a result, defenses have evolved. Ulbrich answered the usual introductory questions about scheme, and offered the commonly growing response that he intends on fielding a versatile unit with diversity in its looks.

But it's not a cliche -- it's a modern necessity.

"It's really forced us from a defensive standpoint to get more multiplicity in all that we do, front-wise, coverage-wise, all of that," Ulbrich said. "So, we're going to be multiple, and we're going to do some unique things that are going to be 3-4-ish and 4-3-ish at times.

"But I think that multiplicity is necessary nowadays. It really is."

Ulbrich's defense in New York last season differed from what Atlanta played under defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake, who was fired Jan. 11.

The Falcons ranked 19th in dime coverage looks, running the personnel 7.1% of the time. New York ranked 27th at 1.8%, according to MatchQuarters. Ulbrich operated in base and nickel (27% and 70.1%) more often than Atlanta (24.5% and 67.5%).

New York spent extensive time in a Cover 1 scheme, ranking seventh league wide at 28.6%. The Falcons, meanwhile, were 30th at 11.3%. Atlanta lived in Cover 3, sitting fifth in the NFL at 46.9% while the Jets slotted 15th at 36.7%.

Perhaps those numbers mean little. This should: the Jets ran significantly more man coverage than the Falcons.

New York played man coverage 32.5% of its defensive snaps, eighth most in the league, while Atlanta played it only 16.4% of the time, which ranks 29th. The Falcons were fourth in the NFL in zone coverage rate at 83.6%, while the Jets were 25th at 67.5%.

In essence, Atlanta's defensive philosophy will significantly shift. The Falcons' secondary will play a different brand. The 3-4, zone-heavy defense they ran under Lake will, if Ulbrich stays true to his word, stick.

Ulbrich, Atlanta's fourth defensive coordinator in as many years, now has the challenge of installing his defense at a rate where his unit can play fast and with a level of schematic mastery not often seen from a first-year group.

"It's just being very cognizant of the fact you don't want to dilute it with too much stuff," Ulbrich said. "So, this next two weeks, learn his stuff, and then after that, when we get into the lab, creating something really unique and new, but at the same time not making it so big that we're paralyzing the players.

"Then, really refining also to the men that we have and the players that are here on this roster right now and what are their strengths so we can feature them as best we can."

The Falcons have holes at all three levels of their defense. They're in line for a shift in roster personnel, which should aid Ulbrich's process of re-designing the unit.

Atlanta lacks ideal capital, from cap space to draft picks, but it still has an entire offseason to add, retool and improve -- and Ulbrich is excited to attack it.

"A lot of work to be done," Ulbrich said, "but it's the type of work that you wake up in the morning, you're fired up to get started with."