For UCLA defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, mentoring matters

Theirs is a professional relationship that began with a shirt.

“It was maroon, kind of a mock turtleneck,” UCLA Coach Jim Mora recalls.

Mora was the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator when the team drafted linebacker Jeff Ulbrich in 2000. Ulbrich arrived at the team’s training facility wearing that shirt.

“I didn’t have a penny to my name and certainly I didn’t own anything worthy of an NFL press conference,” Ulbrich remembers. “Me and my wife went to the Men’s Wearhouse and found the closest thing to 49ers red. It probably looked horrible.”

Mora left the 49ers in 2003, but by then the men had become so close that Mora promised Ulbrich he would someday hire him as an assistant coach. It happened in 2012, when Mora was hired by UCLA.

Ulbrich was the Bruins’ linebackers coach for two seasons before being promoted to defensive coordinator.

His first season in charge of the defense has been a bumpy one. At times, the unit has struggled; at other times it has made plays key to UCLA victories.

Most fans know Mora and Ulbrich’s working relationship only through one moment, a sideline dust-up during a 42-30 loss to Oregon. Mora made a remark to Ulbrich after an Oregon drive for a touchdown and the assistant responded by ranting at the head coach, following him down the sideline, barking at him some more, then shoving his play chart at him as he pulled off his headset.

The situation finally was defused when Mora cupped Ulbrich’s face in his hands and spoke to him nose to nose.

It looked almost fatherly, which is not too far from the truth.

“There is definitely a mentor aspect in the relationship,” says Ulbrich, who is 15 years younger than Mora. “We have similar ideas.”

Very similar.

Asked who was more intense, UCLA linebacker Eric Kendricks says, “That’s a good question. Man, I really don’t know. Those two can bring it.”

The Bruins have a record of 5-2 and four of the wins have come by a total of 20 points. The defense has come up big in key moments in each of those wins, including Saturday’s 36-34 decision over California that was clinched when defensive back Marcus Rios intercepted a pass with 51 seconds left.

But the defense has also given up huge chunks of real estate in losses to Utah and Oregon.

After those losses, Mora defended Ulbrich better than the Bruins defended against the Utes and Ducks.

“Jeff has a tremendous impact on kids. That’s what people can’t see right now, but it is what they will see eventually,” Mora says.

Ulbrich’s impact was significant as linebackers coach. Anthony Barr and Jordan Zumwalt, former UCLA players who are in the NFL, credit him with changing their careers.

Being named defensive coordinator did not alter Ulbrich’s approach.

“He’s my father away from home,” Kendricks says. “He talks to us about his own life, the things that happened to him. There is a lot about taking care of responsibilities off the field, being a man.”

Ulbrich avoids talking about events from his youth that may have shaped him. “Football helped show me the way,” he says. Which is why he insists on immersing himself in the lives of his players.

“With the amount of money and the pressure and the amount of public criticism that comes with coaching, there is a cost,” Ulbrich says. “We can lose the opportunity to affect young men beyond the game. This game is poisoning young men, with fame and money. I refuse to lose perspective.”

Of Mora, Ulbrich says, “You have to admire a coach who leads young men the way Jim does.”

There were similarities in their playing careers. Mora was an undersized high school linebacker who made it at Washington as a walk-on. Ulbrich was a soccer player and wrestler who went out for football as a high school sophomore because “I was getting teased by guys who said I was too scared to play football.”

The difference: Ulbrich developed into an NFL prospect after bouncing from San Jose State to Hawaii.

Mora compared Ulbrich to former 49ers safety Ronnie Lott. “Not in skill set, but in the way they went about playing the game,” Mora says.

Ulbrich kept a small scale in his locker to weigh every piece of food he ate, Mora recalls.

“I was never bigger or stronger or faster than anyone else,” says Ulbrich, who played 10 seasons in the NFL. “I had to do it right and nutrition was a big part of that. Film was a big part of that.”

That type of commitment screamed “future coach” to Mora.

“I knew I could count on him to do the work,” Mora says.

As defensive coordinator, Ulbrich has the Bruins acting aggressively. “We attack more,” defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes says. But the Bruins are missing Barr, Zumwalt, defensive end Cassius Marsh and others who made impact plays last season.

It has made for frustrating moments this season, the most visible one on the sideline against Oregon. Mora, as always, was there for Ulbrich.

“Jim has the ability to calm me down,” Ulbrich says. “He knows this is so important to me, that it’s more than just football. I want these kids to be successful so bad, and I know he does too. I was the one out of control. He was the one to bring me back.”