Report: Steelers adding Alabama coach Karl Dunbar to assist with defensive line

Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II recently spoke to media about the state of the Steelers, and he eluded to the coaching situation still being fluent, despite what Mike Tomlin said regarding his defensive coaching staff returning.

Carnell Lake has stepped down as the team’s defensive backs coach, and most are expecting more coaches to be replaced. What most might not have expected were the Steelers adding a coach to a position which is not filling a vacancy.

This is coming off reports the team is going to hire defensive line coach Karl Dunbar, from the Alabama Crimson Tide, to assist John Mitchell with the defensive front.

From al.com:

The Pittsburgh Steelers are hiring Crimson Tide defensive line coach Karl Dunbar as their defensive line coach, according to a source.

This gets Dunbar back to the NFL, where the 50-year old had been for most of his coaching career before heading to Alabama in 2016 as the replacement for Bo Davis.

It will be the fifth NFL team he’s worked for after stints as the defensive line coach for the Chicago Bears (2004), Minnesota Vikings (2006-11), New York Jets (2012-14) and Buffalo Bills (2015).

John Mitchell might be the most respected coach on Mike Tomlin’s staff, and this might be the start of the process of Mitchell stepping down in the coming years. However, reports are also stating Mitchell isn’t being let go, and he isn’t retiring.

So, change is happening, and it looks as if the Steelers adding Dunbar to their staff is only going to help the team on the defensive side of the football.

Stay tuned to BTSC for the latest on this story, and other news surrounding the black-and-gold.