Story published in December 2023
In May 2008, Anheuser-Busch launched a new line of Bud Light, with a twist: lime. The idea was to capitalize on the summer months, barbecues and backyard parties. The commercials lauded how Bud Light Lime brought the “superior drinkability of Bud Light with a splash of 100 percent natural lime flavor.”
“One taste,” it said, “and you’ll find the summer state of mind — it’s in the lime.”
Jeff Ulbrich and Takeo Spikes wanted that feeling. In the dog days of the NFL season, they’d yearn for a crisp Bud Light with that citrus twist. Ulbrich paused a San Francisco 49ers linebackers meeting early in that 2008 season to say: “Man, a f—ing cold beer right now would be outstanding.” He went around the room asking his teammates what beer they would drink if, right now, they could crack one open. That became a weekly conversation.
“We always settled on Bud Light Lime,” Spikes said. “We used to call them BLLs.”
Ulbrich, now the New York Jets defensive coordinator, and Spikes liked it a certain way, cooled just enough to “where the icicles are in it,” Spikes said. They figured out that 33 degrees was the perfect refrigerator temperature, not quite cold enough to freeze. On off nights, Ulbrich, Spikes and the linebackers would drive around town trying to find restaurants that sold BLLs, and they’d request the bartender pull the cans from the very back of the fridge, with the icicles.
“We’d all get one, two would be the max,” said former 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis, laughing. “Those were good times.”
Spikes needed those moments. He was single and without kids, so Spikes often brought work home with him — and as an NFL player, his intensity ran high. There was no one at home to calm him down, to center him. He often struggled to find that balance. Then he met Ulbrich. When Spikes signed with the 49ers in 2008, Ulbrich was in the twilight of his career and Spikes was signed to take his starting job at inside linebacker. Ulbrich took care of him anyway. He helped teach Spikes the scheme and get him acclimated to a new environment, all while preparing him for life after football.
Some days, Ulbrich could sense that Spikes needed to get away, so he’d pull him aside and tell him: “Spikes, after work we’re going to grab us a BLL and we ain’t gonna talk about football.”
Ulbrich had that sort of chat with many through a 10-year playing career with the 49ers and a 14-year rise through the coaching ranks, where he had stops with the Seattle Seahawks, UCLA and the Atlanta Falcons. That’s all led him here, with the Jets, where he’s the defensive coordinator of one of the NFL’s best defenses, with dreams of one day getting his shot at being a head coach. In 2023, the Jets defense has, to quote head coach Robert Saleh, “embarrassed” star quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert and C.J. Stroud. All of them had their worst or second-worst passer rating against the Jets, who are 5-8.
If the Jets’ defense keeps dominating like this, Ulbrich’s first shot at a head coaching job might happen sooner than later.
He’s earned the opportunity.
Just ask those he’s met along the way.
Read more here.
GO FURTHER
Jets’ Jeff Ulbrich is a teacher, motivator and NFL head coach material
