Surprising Steelers Coach Set to Hit Free Agent Market

There's been no turnover on the Pittsburgh Steelers' coaching staff up to this point despite the team's poor finish to the year, though that could certainly change before long.

According to ESPN's Brooke Pryor, Steelers defensive line coach Karl Dunbar's contract is set to run out this offseason.

Doing a bit of research on Steelers’ staff, and it looks like longtime defensive line coach Karl Dunbar is set to be a free agent when his current deal, which runs through the 2024 season, is up

Dunbar not only coaches D-linemen like Cam Heyward, but he also works with T.J. Watt
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) January 20, 2025

Should Pittsburgh and Dunbar not come to an agreement on an extension, he would hit the open market and be free to explore other opportunities around the league while the team would be tasked with finding his replacement.

Dunbar was hired by the Steelers in February 2018 and has held the same title throughout his entire tenure with the organization. He's overseen the development of players like T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig on the edge, as well as Cameron Heyward and Keeanu Benton on the interior.

Pittsburgh has tallied the most sacks of any team in the league with 344 since Dunbar joined the staff, which is 25 more than the Philadelphia Eagles in second place.

Though 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 eventually appear in a combined 21 games for the Arizona Cardinals and New Orleans Saints throughout his career while also spending time in the Canadian Football League, NFL Europe and World League of American Football.

In the NFL, Dunbar has 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 that 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 Tigers' strength and conditioning coach (2000-2001) before moving to the defensive line (2005).

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