Jeff Ulbrich's Family Includes 3 Kids, Wife Cristina
Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich is the father of three kids with his wife Cristina, including two sons, Jax and Jace.
"Ulbrich and his wife, Cristina, have a daughter, Samantha, and two sons, Jax and Jace," the Falcons' bio for Jeff Ulbrich says.
Ulbrich, a former professional football player, has a long coaching history in the NFL.
Jax Ulbrich and his dad were the subject of national headlines after the Falcons admitted that Jax was the prankster who trolled Shedeur Sanders during the NFL draft. Jax Ulbrich apologized in an Instagram post.
“Earlier in the week, Jax Ulbrich, the 21-year-old son of defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, unintentionally came across the draft contact phone number for Shedeur Sanders off an open iPad while visiting his parent's home and wrote the number down to later conduct a prank call," the Falcons wrote in a statement posted to their X page on April 27. "Jeff Ulbrich was unaware of the data exposure or any facets of the prank and was made aware of the above only after the fact."
That's all put attention on Jeff Ulbrich and his family.
Jax Ulbrich played football for Berry College, according to a player bio, which says, "The New Jersey native is the son of Cristina and Jeff and brother to Jace and Sammy. He is a business major who enjoys golfing and lifting, and his favorite superhero is Iron Man."
Jace Ulbrich has played high school football in New Jersey.
According to The Athletic, Jeff Ulbrich "left San Jose State as a freshman to work for a sheet metal factory in northern California. He hated it, so he returned to football and in 1997 took a recruiting visit to the University of Hawaii."
That's when he met his wife Cristina Ulbrich, the site reported.
In that article, former NFL player Takeo Spikes described Ulbrich's love of family.
“When he got around his family it was like nothing else mattered,” Spikes said . “He didn’t care what type of day he had at the office. It was like, ‘I just want to make sure I’m around for them.’”
According to the team's bio for him, Jeff Ulbrich "was named Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator on Jan. 18, 2025." He earns $1.6 million a year, making him one of the highest-paid defensive coordinators in the NFL, according to Front Office Sports.
He spent four seasons with The New York Jets, serving as interim head coach and defensive coordinator, the Falcons wrote.
"Calling the Jets defense in 2022-24, Ulbrich's unit was the only defense in the league to rank in the top five of total defense in each of the last three seasons, finishing fourth in 2022 before finishing third in both 2023 and 2024," the team noted. "Under Ulbrich's tutelage, cornerback Sauce Gardner earned first-team All-Pro accolades and became the first cornerback since the merger to be named first-team All-Pro in each of his first two seasons (2022-23), while also being selected as a Pro Bowl starter in each of his first two seasons."
Before landing with the Jets, Jeff Ulbrich worked for the Falcons as linebackers coach and then assistant head coach and interim defensive coordinator, the Falcons wrote.
Before that, he was a linebacker and special teams coach at UCLA, as well as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator, the Falcons wrote. His coaching career started in 2010 with the Seattle Seahawks as the team's special teams assistant, the Falcons wrote.
A native of San Jose, CA, Jeff Ulbrich "was originally selected by San Francisco in the third round (86th overall) of the 2000 NFL Draft out of Hawaii. In 10 seasons with the 49ers, Ulbrich played in 120 regular-season games (75 starts) at linebacker and logged 501 tackles (366 solo), 32 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, six forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, two interceptions and 13 passes defended," his bio says.
"He also started all three playoff games he appeared in and totaled 18 tackles (12 solo), one pass defense and one fumble recovery," it adds.
Related: NFL Launches Investigation as Jax Ulbrich Is Named as Prankster