Jeff Ulbrich Children: Meet Samantha, Jax and Jace

Jeff Ulbrich has spent much of his adult life around football, first as an NFL linebacker and later as a coach, but away from the field his family has always been a major part of his story. The Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator has three children with his late wife, Cristina Ulbrich: daughter Samantha and sons Jax and Jace. The Falcons’ official biography also identifies the couple’s three children by name.

The Ulbrich family faced a heartbreaking loss in 2026 when Cristina died at the age of 48 following a battle with cancer. The Falcons announced her death in July and remembered her as a devoted wife, mother and friend who had supported Jeff and their children throughout the many changes that come with an NFL career. Jeff’s children have generally lived outside the spotlight, although Jax became nationally known for an incident connected to the 2025 NFL Draft.

How Many Children Does Jeff Ulbrich Have?

Jeff Ulbrich has three children: Samantha, Jax and Jace Ulbrich.

Samantha is the couple’s daughter, while Jax and Jace are their two sons. Although Jeff’s NFL career has made his name familiar to football fans, the family has mostly avoided turning their private life into a public story.

Cristina and Jeff were together long before his coaching career reached its current level. Their relationship stretched back to his college football years, and over time they built a family while Jeff moved through professional football as both a player and coach.

An old San Francisco 49ers media guide shows that Samantha was born on March 23, 2001. At the time, Jeff was early in his playing career with San Francisco. That record provides a rare glimpse into the family’s early years, when Jeff was still establishing himself in the NFL.

As the years passed, sons Jax and Jace completed the family.

Who Is Samantha Ulbrich?

Samantha Ulbrich is Jeff and Cristina Ulbrich’s daughter and their oldest child.

Compared with her father’s very public career, Samantha has maintained a notably private life. She has not attracted the same level of sports coverage as her brother Jax and appears to have preferred staying away from the attention that often surrounds NFL families.

Records from Jeff’s playing days show Samantha was born in 2001, meaning she is 25 years old in 2026. She was still an infant when Jeff was playing linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers, long before he became a familiar face on NFL sidelines as a coach.

There is limited verified information publicly available regarding Samantha’s education, career or personal life. That is important because several online profiles have attempted to describe the personalities of Jeff’s children in considerable detail, even though much of that information does not come from the family themselves.

What is clear is that Samantha has remained part of a closely connected family. When Falcons owner Arthur Blank paid tribute to Cristina following her death, he specifically mentioned Jeff, Samantha, Jax and Jace while offering support to the entire Ulbrich family.

Who Is Jax Ulbrich?

Jax Ulbrich is probably the most publicly recognizable of Jeff Ulbrich’s three children.

He followed the family’s strong connection to football and played running back at Berry College. Berry’s 2025 football roster listed Jax as a junior running back from Chatham Township, New Jersey, standing 5-foot-10 and weighing 169 pounds.

His name became known well beyond college football in April 2025 after he was identified as the person responsible for a prank call made to quarterback Shedeur Sanders during the NFL Draft.

The incident happened while Sanders was waiting to learn which NFL team would select him. According to the Falcons, Jax came across Sanders’ confidential draft contact number on an open iPad while visiting his parents’ home. He wrote the number down and later used it to make a prank call in which Sanders was falsely led to believe he was being drafted.

At the time of the incident, Jax was 21.

What Happened With the Shedeur Sanders Prank Call?

The prank quickly became a major NFL story because Sanders’ private draft contact number was confidential information.

Once the Falcons investigated what had happened, the organization confirmed that Jax was responsible. The team also made it clear that Jeff Ulbrich had not known his son had obtained the number or planned the call. Jeff only learned about the incident afterward.

Jax publicly apologized, describing what he had done as a serious mistake and acknowledging that the prank took attention away from an important moment in Sanders’ life.

Jeff also addressed the situation publicly. He accepted responsibility for not adequately protecting confidential information that had been available on his device and apologized to Sanders, Sanders’ family and the Falcons organization.

The NFL later fined the Atlanta Falcons $250,000 and Jeff Ulbrich $100,000 over the disclosure of Sanders’ private contact information. Jeff said the family would not appeal the punishment.

The Ulbrichs also contacted the Sanders family directly to apologize.

For Jax, it became an uncomfortable public lesson at a young age. Until that point, most attention surrounding him had been connected to his own college football experience rather than his father’s NFL job.

Who Is Jace Ulbrich?

Jace Ulbrich is Jeff and Cristina’s other son and has maintained a much lower public profile than Jax.

Public reporting has linked Jace with the University of San Diego, but comparatively little verified information is available about his studies, sporting interests or future career plans. Unlike his brother’s experience during the 2025 draft controversy, Jace has largely remained outside national sports coverage.

That lack of information is not unusual. Jeff may be a prominent NFL coach, but his children are not all public figures, and the family has generally kept personal details away from constant media attention.

Jace’s name became more widely mentioned following Cristina’s death because the Falcons and members of the NFL community publicly expressed sympathy for Jeff and all three children.

Jeff Ulbrich and Cristina Built Their Family Around Football

Jeff’s football journey has been long enough to cover several very different chapters of the family’s life.

He played college football at Hawaii before the San Francisco 49ers selected him in the third round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He eventually spent 10 seasons with San Francisco, appearing in 120 regular-season games.

After his playing career ended, Jeff moved into coaching. His career included time with the Seattle Seahawks, UCLA, the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets.

Football also meant frequent moves, long hours and changing responsibilities for the family. Cristina was beside him through much of that journey.

The Falcons described Cristina as a constant source of support for Jeff, their children and the wider organization. Following her death, team owner Arthur Blank highlighted how strongly she cared for her family and the courage she showed during her illness.

Cristina Ulbrich Died After a Battle With Cancer

Cristina Ulbrich died in July 2026 at age 48 after battling cancer.

Her death brought an outpouring of sympathy from organizations connected with Jeff’s football life. The Falcons, San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets were among those who shared messages of support for Jeff and his children.

Cristina and Jeff had built a life together that stretched across his playing and coaching careers. Reports about their relationship trace their meeting to 1997, when Jeff was connected with the University of Hawaii football program. They later raised Samantha, Jax and Jace while Jeff pursued his career in professional football.

Her death changed the family in a deeply personal way, and the Falcons asked that the Ulbrich family’s privacy be respected while they grieved.

What Does Jeff Ulbrich Do Now?

Jeff Ulbrich remains the defensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons in the 2026 NFL season.

Atlanta initially brought him back as defensive coordinator in January 2025 after his four seasons with the New York Jets. When Kevin Stefanski became the Falcons’ head coach in 2026, the organization retained Ulbrich in the defensive coordinator position.

Before returning to Atlanta, Ulbrich had served as the Jets’ defensive coordinator and became interim head coach after Robert Saleh was dismissed five games into the 2024 season. He handled the interim role for the remainder of that campaign.

His coaching career continues to keep him in the NFL spotlight, but recent years have also brought unusually intense public attention to his family.

Jax’s draft-night mistake became a national story in 2025, while Cristina’s death in 2026 brought a far more painful kind of attention.

Through it all, Samantha, Jax and Jace remain the three children Jeff and Cristina raised together. While Jax has followed a football path of his own, Samantha and Jace have largely maintained their privacy. Their family story is closely connected to football, but it is also one shaped by decades together, unexpected public scrutiny and the loss of the woman Jeff and his children knew as the heart of their family.