Falcons’ Coordinator Breaks Silence On Shedeur Prank Call

The Atlanta Falcons’ new defensive coordinator, Jeff Ulbrich, was thrown into the center of the medias attention three weeks ago when it came out that his son was responsible for a draft day prank call targeting the face of the 2025 NFL Draft, Shedeur Sanders.

Ulbrich embraced the situation with full humility, full throatily denouncing his son’s actions  and taking full responsibility for the ‘inexcusable’ act of no protecting confidential information. When the NFL’s fine came, a one hundred thousand dollar hit, Ulbrich didn’t appeal it. He broke his silence Wednesday in an interview with ESPN’s Marc Raimondi.

“I mean, it was a roller coaster of emotions,” 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.”

Ulbrich Speaks On Family Struggles Following The Incident

As most people know by now, the prank was carried out by the coach’s 21-year-old son, Jax, who was home from college to visit for the weekend. His fathers iPad was left unlocked and that’s when Jax gained access to multiple prospects personal cell phone numbers.

Ulbrich kept his cards close to his chest regarding how the family was going to discipline their son.

“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.”

Ulbrich Says He Never Feared For His Job

Jeff Ulbrich has been an NFL mainstay since he was drafted into the league in the third round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He spent ten seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, patrolling the middle of the field alongside Hall of Famer Patrick Willis.

Ulbrich began his coaching career immediately after retiring from the league, and bounced around a few teams before ending up in Atlanta in 2015.  He spent five seasons as the linebackers coach, and one as the defensive coordinator before making his departure to join the New York Jets.

He cites this time spent with the Falcons as a reason why he never allowed this controversy to create anxiety regarding his job security.

“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 Arthur Blank] himself, all of them,” Ulbrich said. “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.”