49ers tried to steal new Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich from New York during the 2024 offseason

After the New York Jets fired Robert Saleh this week, the team named Jeff Ulbrich as the interim coach, and in a twist, the only reason Ulbrich was even available to take the job is because Saleh wouldn’t let him leave. 

Back in February, the San Francisco 49ers were thinking about possibly hiring Ulbrich as the team’s defensive coordinator. The job had previously belonged to Steve Wilks, but he got fired shortly after San Francisco’s 25-22 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII.  

With the 49ers suddenly in need of a new defensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan made a call to the Jets with the hopes that he might be able to hire Ulbrich, according to the San Francisco Chronicle (Ulbrich was one of several candidates the 49ers looked at or reached out to before promoting Nick Sorensen). 

Hiring Ulrbich definitely would have made some sense for the 49ers. Not only is he widely regarded as a good defensive coach, but he also has some serious ties to the organization: Ulbrich grew up in California as a 49ers fan AND he spent his entire 10-year NFL playing career in San Francisco. 

Ulbrich, who played linebacker for the 49ers, was drafted by San Francisco in 2000 and then he ended up staying with them until his final season in 2009. 

Shanahan also has some personal ties to Ulbrich: The two men were on the same coaching staff in Atlanta for two seasons (2015-16). Ulbrich and Shanahan were on the sideline together for Super Bowl LI when the Falcons blew a 28-3 lead to the Patriots. 

Unfortunately for Shanahan, the Jets did have some say in the process. Since Ulbrich was the defensive coordinator in New York and he would be taking the same job in San Francisco, the Jets had the power to veto the move and that’s what Robert Saleh did. 

The fired Jets coach, who knows Shanahan well after spending four seasons as the 49ers defensive coordinator (2017-20), appreciated the call from the 49ers coach, but there was no way he was letting Ulbrich go to San Francisco. 

“I don’t blame him, he should ask,” Saleh told the Chronicle before the start of the season of Shanahan’s call about Ulbrich. “The answer was no. But I’d ask, too.”

Although Ulbrich didn’t end up with the 49ers, he was thrilled that they even considered him. 

“Absolutely honored,” Ulbrich told the Chronicle. “I have an unbelievable, tremendous respect for Kyle, and that organization and the team they’ve built and the coaching staff that they have.”

Staying with Jets has worked out for Ulbrich in the sense that he’ll now get to prove that he has what it takes to be an NFL head coach. And Ulbrich will now be replacing the guy (Saleh) who thought so highly of him that he wouldn’t let him leave for San Francisco. 

Ulbrich will be serving has a NFL head coach for the first time on Monday night when the Jets host the Buffalo Bills.