The manner in which Ulbrich coaches also evokes the position he spent a decade playing. For Elliss, it's his attention to detail. For Bates, it's because he's so demanding. Those traits are ones good NFL linebackers often possess.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris, who was a defensive back in college, sees it. Though, Morris added another adjective into the mix: intentional.
"When he coaches, he has a real intentionality on what he's coaching that day and what he wants to do and what he wants to get accomplished," Morris said. "He's not afraid to say it. He speaks with a high level of clarity to the guys. …
"That's what that kind of room is like. It's almost like being in a quarterback room. It's a really intentional day for quarterbacks every day. For wideouts, I might just go catch the rock. But it's really intentional for those guys every single day."
And that intentionality has led to a productive offseason with the defensive install. It has been a slow and steady process which has put the defense in a good position ahead of the Falcons' five-week break before training camp begins in late July.
"I love it," Bates said. "The meetings are unbelievable. The way that he's teaching the positions, teaching our defense, to not just understand your job but get a whole understanding of how we are trying to attack as a defense. I think that will go a very long way when you can play four different coverages, and it all looks the same."
Especially when Ulbrich is checking whether his players are actually paying attention and absorbing the information.
"Even in the meeting room, people are a little on edge at times," Falcons inside linebacker JD Bertrand said. "Like, he does a good job of cold calling people and making sure people are always on their Ps and Qs. So, I think there's that side, but there's also a side that he understands the game and he understands linebacker responsibilities, so he's able to very much emphasize and verbalize from a linebacker perspective how to play each different role."
Clearly, Bates isn't the only player -- or even coach -- who has noticed Ulbrich's tendency to pull from his past. Bates was just one of the first to point it out publicly.
The label was never meant in a bad way. In fact, quite the opposite.
"That's the type of linebacker that I would love to play with," Bates said. "He's holding everybody accountable to that standard."