Less than 24 hours after the Jets' 32-20 season-ending triumph over the Dolphins, interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to lead the Green & White for 12 games.
"I want to thank the Johnson family for the opportunity to be the head coach of the Jets even though it was an interim basis," said Ulbrich, the team's defensive coordinator elevated to IHC on Oct. 8. "It was a great honor, one of the great honors of my football career. I want to thank this fan base, it's one of the great fan basses in this game, passionate and all-in and wish I could have done more for them. I want to thank the coaching staff and this building, the support staff, unbelievable in a very trying year, stayed the course and unwavering support at all times. And finally want to thank these players, amazing locker room in the face of real football adversity. They stayed together, they stayed the course, they finished in a way that they all should be proud of and for that I'm forever grateful."
The Jets finished in third place in the AFC East, posting a 5-12 record and going 3-9 with Ulbrich holding the dual roles. While he didn't relinquish defensive play-calling duties following his promotion, Ulbrich said he would opt to be more of a CEO type if he gets a permanent HC job.
"I don't know if I would do it any different this season," Ulbrich said. "What I do know if I did ever get the opportunity to be a head coach, I would not be a head coach/coordinator. I would not coordinate the defense. I would much rather have the ability to go from offense to defense to special teams.
"There are moments – especially on gameday – where I'm busy being a defensive coordinator where my resources might be better equipped being the head coach at certain times within games. And there's times definitely where being the head coach can get in the way of prepping the defense for me and vice vera. If I could be built a perfect vision going forward, I would not be the coordinator and the head coach."
The Jets finished No. 3 in total defense (313.8 yds/g) but No. 20 in points allowed (23.8 pts/g). Their 4 takeaways in Sunday's win over the 'Fins pushed their season total to 17, which moved them to T20 overall. Conversely, the Jets finished No. 24 in total offense (310.3 yds/g) and No. 25 in scoring (19.9 pts/G).
The Jets have already begun their search for their head coaching vacancy and Ulbrich will get his chance to interview for the full-time role.
"I'm going to take it one day at a time," he said. "I do not know exactly what the future holds, but I'm excited about the opportunity of whatever comes."
The Jets finished with a 3-7 record in one-score games and lost six games in which they held fourth quarter leads. Ulbrich praised the talent on the roster and discussed what must change for the Jets in terms of culture.
"With winning comes momentum comes confidence, it changes the mindset in those moments at the end of the game rather than hoping things going right that knowing things are going to go right," he said. "And that's a different mentality, a different approach and that's only you earn that. You earn that from having success and doing things the right way. That's where the culture shift really has to happen on top of high-level accountability with this group but some success."
Although the Jets fell short of expectations in 2024-24, Ulbrich will head into the offseason with his head held high and thankful for the experience.
"The gratitude from me comes from just the opportunity to get to know the team on a deeper level," he said. "As a defensive coordinator, you get a lot of exposure with the defense, and you get small exposure with the offense and special teams. But you don't really get the opportunity to address them on a real consistent basis. My gratitude is just it gave me this amazing opportunity to get to know everybody on offense and special teams, and just build a deeper connection with the overall team. I'll forever be grateful for that."
