Jeff Ulbrich has been named defensive coordinator and Bernie Parmalee special teams coordinator and Will Harriger running backs coach, the Atlanta Falcons announced Monday. In addition, Ben Kotwica has been relieved of his duties as special teams coordinator, effective immediately.
Ulbrich served as the Falcons linebackers coach from 2015-2019 before taking on the role of assistant head coach/linebackers at the start of the 2020 season. Ulbrich played a key role in the Falcons defensive turnaround that helped the club closeout 2019 with a 6-2 record.
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He joined the Falcons after spending three seasons at UCLA where he was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2014 after serving as the assistant head coach, linebackers coach, and special teams coordinator during his first two years with the Bruins. He spent two seasons as a special teams assistant with the Seattle Seahawks after playing 10 seasons as a linebacker with the San Francisco 49ers.
Parmalee is in his third season with the Falcons. He was hired in 2018 as running backs coach and spent the 2019 season as assistant special teams coach/offensive assistant before moving back to running backs coach in 2020.
Parmalee joined the Falcons after spending three years with the Oakland Raiders as the running backs coach (2015-17). Before joining the Raiders, he spent time with the Kansas City Chiefs (2010-2012), Notre Dame (2005-09) and the Miami Dolphins (2002-04). Parmalee played nine seasons in the NFL as a running back with the Dolphins (1992-98) and New York Jets (1999-00).
Harriger is in his second season with the Falcons, his first as the game management coordinator after spending the 2019 season as an offensive assistant. He spent the five previous years with the Seattle Seahawks, where he worked with the quarterbacks.
Harriger, whose career began in 2004 at Midwestern State, spent the majority of his collegiate time on the defensive side of the ball, focusing on the linebacker position. He has also coached at Tennessee-Martin (2006), Auburn (2007), Texas (2008), Tennessee-Martin (2009), Texas Tech (2010-11) and Florida (2012-13).
Kotwica served as the Falcons special teams coordinator for the past two seasons. He joined the club in 2019 after five seasons with the Washington Football Team.
