Karmichael MacKenzie "Karl" Dunbar II (born May 18, 1967) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

. He is currently the

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

coach for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

. He previously coached

for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL).

Playing career

Dunbar was a second-team All-SEC defensive tackle as a senior at

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

. He was selected by the

in the eighth round, 209th overall, of the

1990 NFL Draft The 1990 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1990, at the Marriott Marq ...

. Dunbar was out of football in 1990 and 1991, but returned to play for the

Orlando Thunder The Orlando Thunder was a member of the World League of American Football from 1991 to 1992 (known as NFL Europe from 1995 onwards). The team played their games in the 70,000 seat Florida Citrus Bowl, and was coached by Don Matthews in 1991 and ...

in the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

in 1992. Dunbar played three seasons in the NFL for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in 1993 and

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

in 1994 and 1995. He also played for the

Rhein Fire Rhein may refer to: Places * Rhine, a major river in Europe (german: Rhein, link=no) * Rhein, a village in the municipality of Morsbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany * Rhein (Ostpreussen), a former name of the town Ryn in Poland Ships * SM ...

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

in 1995.

Coaching career

Shortly after his playing career ended, Dunbar started coaching at the high school level, first at

Opelousas Senior High School The St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, St. Landry Parish School Board is located in Opelousas, Louisiana. The St. Landry Parish School District is rated a C district. Mr. Patrick Jenkins is the superintendent of the St. Landry Parish School System. S ...

Opelousas, Louisiana :''Opelousas is also a common name of the flathead catfish.'' Opelousas (french: Les Opélousas; Spanish: ''Los Opeluzás'') is a small city and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 190 were ...

in 1996, before moving to

Beau Chene High School Beau Chêne High School is a public secondary school located in southeastern St. Landry Parish between the communities of Grand Coteau and Arnaudville in the state of Louisiana, United States. The school was founded in 1991 when Sunset, Leonvi ...

Arnaudville, Louisiana Arnaudville is a town in St. Landry and St. Martin parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The St. Martin Parish portion of Arnaudville is part of the Lafayette metropolitan statistical area, while the St. Landry Parish portion is part of the ...

in 1997. Dunbar returned to college football in 1998 and 1999 at Division I-AA

Nicholls State University Nicholls State University is a public university in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Founded in 1948, Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System. Originally named Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the university is named for Francis T. Nicholl ...

as the

coach. In 2000, he returned to his alma mater,

as a member of the strength and conditioning program through 2002. In 2003, he was hired as defensive line coach by Oklahoma State's

Les Miles Leslie Edwin Miles (born November 10, 1953) is a former American football coach. He most recently served as the head coach at Kansas. His head coaching career began with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, where he coached from 2001 to 2004. Following t ...

and remained in that role through 2003. While at Oklahoma State, Dunbar tutored Kevin Williams during his breakout senior season and helped him become the first Cowboys defensive lineman to be a 1st-round draft pick since

Leslie O'Neal Leslie Claudis O'Neal (born May 7, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end and outside linebacker for 13 years in the National Football League (NFL). He spent the majority of his career with the San Diego ...

17 years earlier. In 2004, Dunbar moved to the NFL after being hired by

Lovie Smith Lovie Lee Smith (born May 8, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). From 2004 to 2016, he served as the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a ...

to coach the

defensive line. He helped tutor a young and talented line that included rookie 1st-round pick

Tommie Harris Tommie Harris, Jr. (born April 29, 1983) is a former American football defensive tackle who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Oklahoma, and was recognized as a consens ...

and 2nd-rounder

Tank Johnson Terry "Tank" Johnson (born December 7, 1981) is a former American professional American football, football defensive tackle in the NFL for the Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second ...

. The Bears led the NFL in 3rd-down defense, allowing opponents to convert at a 30.5% rate while ranking 15th in the NFL in pass defense. In 2005, Dunbar returned to his alma mater, LSU, which had just hired Les Miles as their new head coach. During the 2005 season, Dunbar’s linemen paved the way for the Tigers defense to rank #5 in the nation in total defense at 276.8 yards per game and 7th in the country in rushing defense at 94.8 yards per game. The defense also allowed only 15.2 points per game, which ranked 8th in the nation, and led the SEC with 39 team sacks. In 2006, Dunbar returned to the NFL and was hired by the

new head coach,

Brad Childress Bradley Childress (born June 27, 1956) is a former American football coach. He worked for over 40 years as a coach for various college programs and National Football League (NFL) franchises. He was the offensive coordinator for Wisconsin from 19 ...

. Under his tutelage, the so-called "Williams Wall", consisting of defensive tackle Kevin Williams and nose tackle Pat Williams, led the NFL in defense against the run each year between 2006 and 2008. Over the same period, the Vikings only allowed an average of 70.8 rushing yards per game. He remained with the Vikings through the 2011 season. The

hired Dunbar on February 13, 2012, to serve as their defensive line coach which he did from 2012 to 2014. In January 2015, Dunbar was hired as defensive line coach for the

for the 2015 season, but was fired on March 13, 2016, by head coach

Rex Ryan Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching position ...

after only one season. In May 2016, he was hired as defensive line coach at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

under head coach

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...

. Dunbar remained in that role for two seasons through 2017. On February 8, 2018, Dunbar was named defensive line coach of the

Personal life

Dunbar has been diagnosed with

vitiligo Vitiligo is a disorder that causes the skin to lose its color. Specific causes are unknown but studies suggest a link to immune system changes. Signs and symptoms The only sign of vitiligo is the presence of pale patchy areas of depigmen ...

, a condition where the skin loses its pigmentation, usually in patches.

References

External links

Alabama Crimson Tide bio

LSU Tigers bio

Minnesota Vikings bio

Pittsburgh Steelers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunbar, Karl 1967 births Living people Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches American football defensive tackles Arizona Cardinals players Chicago Bears coaches LSU Tigers football coaches LSU Tigers football players Minnesota Vikings coaches Nicholls Colonels football coaches New Orleans Saints players New York Jets coaches Oklahoma State Cowboys football coaches Orlando Thunder players People from Opelousas, Louisiana Pittsburgh Steelers coaches Players of American football from Louisiana Rhein Fire players