Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady aren’t the only people in the NFL who grew up 49ers fans. Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich has a unique connection to the San Francisco franchise. And under different circumstances this past offseason, Ulbrich would’ve been back on the 49ers’ sideline when the teams open the season on Monday Night Football (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC).
Mike Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote Saturday that Ulbrich was Kyle Shanahan’s top target following the 49ers’ 25-22 overtime loss to Kansas City in Super Bowl LVIII. Shanahan fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks and immediately called Robert Saleh for permission to pursue Ulbrich.
Shanahan met a brick wall similar to the defenses Saleh engineered for him from 2017-20 prior to leaving to become the Jets’ head coach.
“I don’t blame him,” a smiling Saleh told Silver. “He should ask. The answer was no. But I’d ask, too.”
Silver’s story is the first time both Salah and Ulbrich directly addressed Shanahan’s pursuit of Ulbrich this past February, per Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic, who covers the Jets.
Ulbrich’s mom, Silver said, was a 49ers cheerleader at old Kezar Stadium decades before Ulbrich spent a decade patrolling San Francisco’s defense as a starting linebacker (2000-09). Ulbrich joined Pete Carroll’s first Seahawks staff in 2010, when he worked with Dan Quinn. Then, in 2015, Quinn brought Ulbrich to Atlanta, where Ulbrich met Quinn’s new offensive coordinator, Shanahan.
Shanahan promoted Nick Sorensen to defensive coordinator three weeks after the Super Bowl.