Seventeen years ago, Jeff Ulbrich was still celebrating the greatest turnaround in college football history — from the University of Hawaii’s 0-12 season in 1998 to 9-4 WAC champions in 1999.

Following his 10-year career in the National Football League with the San Francisco 49ers, Ulbrich is now the linebackers coach for the Atlanta Falcons. This week, Ulbrich and company will try to stop Tom Brady and the Patriots at Super Bowl LI in Houston, Texas.

This week, Ulbrich took time out of his busy schedule to sit down with former University of Hawaii defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold, who is currently the defensive coordinator of the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats and NFL analyst for SKY Sports.

Super Bowl LI between the Falcons and Patriots kicks off at 1:30 p.m. HST Sunday and will air on KHON2.

Jeff Reinebold: Jeff you played in Hawai’i in some tough times and then you were part of one of the greatest turnarounds in college football history. How proud are you of having played at the University of Hawai’i?

Jeff Ulbrich: Very proud. I fell in love with the culture and the people and the food and everything. I ended up stealing one of girls from there and making her my wife, so it’s been an awesome journey and I feel like I still have a very strong connection to Hawai’i.

Reinebold: June Jones comes in 1999, you guys turn that thing around, you get an opportunity to play pro football as a linebacker with the 49ers. When you were at Hawai’i, especially on those teams where you struggled so much, did you ever think this was all going to happen?

Ulbrich: “No. No, I didn’t — 0-12 my first year there, be a junior college kid, and then obviously June comes in and we go 9-4, like you said, biggest turnaround in the history of college football, which is still crazy to say. And then really at the end of the day, it was an amazing opportunity to get to know that island and that state and how unique and special it is, and really helped become a part of who I was. As far as the coaching thing, it was something that I’ve always wanted to do. The fact that I was able to fool ’em for 10 years in the NFL and hang around was just a great thing, getting me ready for this next profession, which is all it was.”

Reinebold: Nick Rolovich has gone in there now, another Northern California kid, and they’ve engineered much the same turnaround (with a) bowl game this year. Do you follow the Warriors? Do you keep track of what they’re doing?

Ulbrich: Absolutely, yeah. Nick’s doing an amazing job out there. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to play together. We missed each other by a year, but from afar, I got to obviously see him as a player and then followed his career as a coach and he’s doing amazing job. He’s the perfect guy because not only is he a great Xs and Os guy, but he understands ball at a high level. He also understands the people of Hawai’i and that’s where I think I’ve gone wrong at times, as we both know, when they bring someone in there that doesn’t understand the culture of the people. I think he does, and I think he embraces it, and I think he wants to live it, and it’s a big part of the reason I think he’s having so much success.”

Reinebold: You took a wahine off of the rock and made her your wife. You guys get back to Hawai’i much?

Ulbrich: We do. When I was playing in San Francisco, obviously it was a short trip for us, so we got back quite a bit. And then when I was coaching for the Seahawks and was coaching for UCLA, we got back quite a bit. It’s a little harder now, you know, we’re a 10-hour flight, but we still try and find our way there at times.