A lot changed for New York Jets' interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich in a matter of four hours on Tuesday in Florham Park.
While the defensive coordinator was building a game plan for the Monday Night Football matchup against the Buffalo Bills and quarterback Josh Allen, the surprising news of Robert Saleh's firing hit. Next, the former NFL linebacker was tabbed to take over head coaching duties.
"It has been a whirlwind. It has been four hours of craziness," said Ulbrich while addressing reporters on Tuesday afternoon. "Four hours ago, I'm sitting there game planning for Josh Allen and what we got to get accomplished from a defensive perspective. Then, four hours later, I'm doing a press conference here with you guys as the new Interim Coach of the New York Jets, so a lot of information to process."
The 47-year-old Ulbrich has been viewing the world through a defensive coordinator's lens, but the head coaching role requires a wider perspective. Instead of focusing on only the defensive operations, the former third-round draft pick must expand to manage all three phases of the game.
"It's going to take me some time because I got to pull away from the defensive coordinator position and really start to look at this thing from a global perspective, so in the process of doing that now," said Ulbrich.
One important order of business for Ulbrich is to establish a defensive play caller. Although there have been coaches who have pulled double duty, it may not be the best setup for a first-time head coach. Bills' head coach Sean McDermott was also the defensive coordinator for the 2023 campaign, his seventh season at the helm, but has passed that responsibility onto Bobby Babich for 2024.
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"I think everything is on the table right now, so I'm going to take a hard look at that," said Ulbrich. "Can I manage a gameday as a head coach and call the plays on defense? Everything is on the table right now, it is."
Under Ulbrich's direction, New York ranks second amongst NFL leaders in total defense (255.8) through the season's first five weeks. Gang Green was a Top 4 unit in both 2022 and 2023.
The Jets will host the Bills for a Monday Night Football matchup on October 14 at MetLife Stadium.
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• Ominous signs for Aaron Rodgers's health only five weeks into Jets' season
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