‘The biggest reasons’ why Jeff Ulbrich didn’t quit after Shedeur Sanders prank fiasco

Jeff Ulbrich’s son, Jax, may have marred Shedeur Sanders’ draft weekend, but the ex-Jets interim head coach never worried he wouldn’t make it to Week 1 with the Falcons because of those actions.

“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 Wednesday, per ESPN. “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.”

Ulbrich, the new Falcons defensive coordinator, became embroiled in a national controversy after Jax participated in a prank call to Sanders during last month’s NFL draft.

Jax secretly snatched Sanders’ number from an open iPad at his parents’ home and sat alongside a friend who called him, tricking Sanders into believing he had received the call he had been waiting his whole life for before the friend informed Sanders he would “have to wait a little longer.”

Jeff received a $100,000 fine for his son’s actions, while the Falcons were handed a $250,000 fine.

He called both his and his son’s action “inexcusable.”

“First of all, I would like to publicly apologize to Shedeur and the Sanders family for what occurred,” Jeff said in April. “Second of all, I want to publicly apologize to Mr. Blank, Terry Fontenot, Raheem Morris and the entire Falcons organization. My actions — my actions — of not protecting confidential data were inexcusable. My son’s actions were absolutely inexcusable, and for that, we are both deeply sorry.

“The NFL has taken action and I fully respect the punishment. We take full responsibility, both my son and myself, and we will not be appealing the fine in any way. Going forward, I promise my son and I will work hard to demonstrate that we are better than this. Again, I am deeply sorry for our actions.”

Jax also apologized on Instagram.

“On Friday night I made a tremendous mistake,” the college student wrote. “Shedeur, what I did was completely inexcusable, embarrassing, and shameful. I’m so sorry I took away from your moment, it was selfish and childish. I could never imagine getting ready to celebrate one of the greatest moments of your life and I made a terrible mistake and messed with that moment. Thank you for accepting my call earlier today, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”

Jeff joined the Falcons after an underwhelming run as the Jets’ interim head coach in the wake of Robert Saleh’s firing, going 3-9.

He previously served as Atlanta’s defensive coordinator in 2020 before joining Saleh with the Jets to serve in the same capacity.