There has been no turnover among the Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff so far, despite the team’s poor finish to the year, although that could certainly change before long.
Steelers defensive line coach Karl Dunbar’s contract is set to expire this offseason, according to ESPN’s Brooke Pryor.
Doing some research on the Steelers personnel, it appears that longtime defensive line coach Karl Dunbar is set to become a free agent when his current contract, which runs through the 2024 season , will be finished.
Dunbar not only coaches D-linemen like Cam Heyward, but he also works with TJ Watt
-Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) January 20, 2025
If Pittsburgh and Dunbar fail to reach an agreement on an extension, he would hit the open market and be free to explore other opportunities around the league while the team is tasked with finding his replacement.
Dunbar was hired by the Steelers in February 2018 and held the same title throughout his tenure with the organization. He oversaw the development of players like TJ Watt, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig on the perimeter, as well as Cameron Heyward and Keeanu Benton on the interior.
Pittsburgh has had the most sacks of any team in the league with 344 since Dunbar joined the staff, 25 more than the second-place Philadelphia Eagles.
Although he never played for the Steelers, he was drafted by the team in the eighth round of the 1990 NFL Draft out of LSU. Dunbar would ultimately appear in a total of 21 games for the Arizona Cardinals and New Orleans Saints throughout his career, while spending time in the Canadian Football League, NFL Europe and the World League American football.
In the NFL, Dunbar previously coached the defensive lines of the Chicago Bears (2004), Minnesota Vikings (2006-2011), New York Jets (2012-2014) and Buffalo Bills (2015).
Collegiately, he held the same role at Alabama (2016-2017), where he won the national championship in the latter of those two years, while enjoying two stints in Baton Rouge, at his alma mater, where he was first the strength of the Tigers and physical trainer (2000-2001) before moving to the defensive line (2005).
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