New York Jets DC Shares What Makes Their Defense so Special

The New York Jets have had a dominant defense the past couple years and their defensive coordinator has opened up about why that is.

Oct 2, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich on the sidelines against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Among all the frustration that has taken place for the New York Jets the past couple years, the one thing they can hang their hat on is that they've turned their defense into one of the best units in the league.

That was expected when Robert Saleh took over as head coach.

While defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers for four seasons, he architected one of the best defenses in the NFL, turning him into a hot coaching candidate before he was ultimately hired by the Jets in January 2021.

Overall success hasn't translated for Saleh, but he's still a top defensive mind which has kept New York in games they probably shouldn't have been in, and won some others despite having a consistently poor offense.

Heading into this year, the expectation is that this unit will remain one of the best in the league.

Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich spoke about what has made this group so special the past couple seasons.

"... when I get to address the group, I'm not sitting there talking about 17,000 different schematic programs. I'm talking about finish, I'm talking about toughness, I'm talking about technique. You're talking about, to me, the real essence of football, I think that that's what makes us a little different than most," he said according to Jack Bell of NYJets.com.

Ulbrich certainly knows what it takes to be successful.

After starting his collegiate career at San Jose State, he transferred to junior college program Gavilan College where he was first-team All-Conference and team MVP. He then finished out his career at the University of Hawaii before being taken in the third round of the 2000 NFL draft by the 49ers where he played all nine years of his NFL football.

He immediately got into coaching, serving as the Seattle Seahawks' assistant special teams coordinator before working his way up the ranks.

Now, he's in charge of a top defensive unit that doesn't show any signs of slowing down.

"I would say the foundation of who we are is we're going to do what we do ... But at the same time, I'd say that we're not so stubborn as coaches, that we don't provide a few wrinkles here and there to keep the offense off balance, pushing ourselves this offseason to grow from a schematic standpoint, so we'll never lose our essence, and that's being based in great technique, great strain, great finish, great toughness, great bonds, but we never lose that," he added.

Whatever the approach has been for New York's defensive staff, it's clearly been working.

The Jets have high hopes of winning their division and getting into the playoffs to end a long-time drought. To do that, Saleh and Ulbrich will need to keep their defense dominating opposing offenses.