Through exclusive interviews with Jeff Ulbrich and the Falcons players who embody his message, AtlantaFalcons.com breaks down the foundation of the Heart-Mind-Fist philosophy, which was forged during Ulbrich's 25 years in the NFL.
Born of a player's experience. Driven by a coach's purpose.
This is the first pillar, Heart.
For six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, Jeff Ulbrich was teammates with the man he says epitomizes what it means to play this game with heart.
After every game, tears were shed in the locker room by this man because of how much the game meant to him. If the 49ers won, tears would trickle out of his eyes and down his cheeks as he thanked teammate after teammate for their contribution. If they lost, the tears flowed just the same, this time with apologies that he hadn't done enough — even when, Ulbrich says, that burden was never his alone to carry.
Ulbrich said he never told this player what those moments meant to him, and how they live with him even two decades later.
"For those reasons," Ulbrich said, "he's probably my favorite teammate in that way. He was amazing in that way."
That man, that player, was Frank Gore — a five-time Pro Bowler, the NFL's third all-time leading rusher and the league's record-holder for most games played by a running back.
There was never a doubt that Gore loved the game so deeply within his soul that it moved him to tears. There was never a doubt Gore cared and connected with his teammates in that love. There was never a doubt Gore was vulnerable enough to allow those connections to flourish.
That's why he serves as the prime example of the "Heart" aspect of Ulbrich's coaching philosophy: "Heart. Mind. Fist."
Heart is the starting point because it is the basis for building connections. Not only with the game of football but also between teammates. Like the human heart sends life to every part of the body, so too does the heart of this philosophy unite the players working within it.
"The heart starts with connection, 100%," Ulbrich said. "It's something you have to be intentional about, like really opening yourself up and becoming vulnerable and sharing yourself. And, in doing so, giving other people the opportunity to share with you."
It's about vulnerability and connecting to one another, but it's also about a players' own internal heart — their "why" for playing the game.
Every Saturday night before a Sunday game, Ulbrich gives players an opportunity to speak from the heart. One by one, a player from each level of the defense stands up, journeys to the front of the room and shares their "why." They talk about where they come from, the battles they've fought, the families they fight for and the losses that still ache. No two stories are the same. But what these moments reveal is something deeply human: The power of vulnerability to build connection. When players open up, they don't just tell their story, they create bonds.
Ulbrich has seen players laugh and cry together, smile and connect. And there are many times when Ulbrich walks out of one of those meetings feeling a certain way about the upcoming offensive opponent.
"Yeah, those dudes have no chance," he said. "We're going to steamroll them."
Because when players truly care about the man next to them — when they know why they're fighting and who they're fighting for — they fight harder. That's the physical byproduct of the abstract Heart.
"When you're really connected to the man next to you, when you're really connected to your own internal 'why,'" Ulbrich said, "you don't bend, you don't break. …
"I strain and I show the man next to me: I'm willing to go there for you. I'm willing to empty my tank for you. And I'm willing to do that for my own internal 'why,' too."
There's something special about Heart: If you have enough of it, it makes up for deficiencies elsewhere. Heart, Kaden Elliss says, comes first.
"If your heart is in it, if you are connected to your 'why,' then I think everything else will come, too," he said. "... If your heart is behind (everything) it is just going to be natural to put the work in."
When Ulbrich looks for players to bring into his unit, he is searching for men with Heart. They need to love the game more than they love the things the game brings: The money, the fame, the status. That's why he'll take those players over others.
"If you love the game, you're going to overcome some deficiencies," he said. "And if you get a bunch of guys that love the game, that are good-enough athletes and good-enough players and have good-enough talent, you're gonna be good — not just good enough."
This sport is measured daily by size, speed, film and statistics. Ulbrich sees and craves something deeper in the game, though.
Heart.
It's what turns teammates into brothers. Adversity into fuel that fans the flames of fight. It also has the power to turn a good team into a great one.
When Ulbrich was a player, he saw this manifest in Gore. As a coach, he sees it in the men he asks to stand in front of their team and bare their soul. The Heart is the essence of Ulbrich's teachings. The essence of the game itself.
And when Heart leads, everything else follows.
