Pittsburgh Steelers secondary coach Grady Brown was passed over for the Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator position, with the Falcons instead hiring former New York Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich.
Brown interviewed with the Falcons on Friday, late in Atlanta’s process, before head coach Raheem Morris — a longtime friend of Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin — decided on Ulbrich.
Brown served as the defensive coordinator at the 2023 Senior Bowl, and has been seen as a potential rising star in the coaching ranks. It was the first time Brown has interviewed for an NFL defensive coordinator position.
Brown has been with the Steelers as the team’s secondary coach since 2021, overseeing the acquisition and development of young players such as Joey Porter Jr., Cory Trice and Beanie Bishop.
Before his time with the Steelers, Brown spent the 2020 season as the defensive coordinator at McNeese State, but did not coach in a game, as their season was delayed due to COVID-19. He was the co-defensive coordinator at Old Dominion in 2019, and before that was a position coach at Louisville, South Carolina and Souther Miss.
Brown also previously coached at Alabama State, Birmingham Southern, and Alabama A&M and was an NFL intern with the Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs.
A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Brown was a defensive back at Alabama A&M from 1995-98 and went on to play in the Arena Football League.
The Falcons fired defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake after just one season with the team.
Ulbrich, 47, had previously been with the Falcons as linebackers coach, assistant head coach and defensive coordinator from 2015-20. He joined Robert Saleh’s staff as the Jets defensive coordinator in 2021 and was promoted to interim head coach when Saleh was fired midway through the 2024 season.
