Chicago Bears: Sneaky defensive coordinator candidates to replace Pagano
By Ryan Heckman
Chicago Bears defensive coordinator candidate: Karl Dunbar
The biggest drop-off for the Bears’ defense over the last two years has been in the big play department. This unit just isn’t creating those game-changing plays on a regular basis, and it starts with getting to the quarterback.
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Enter: Karl Dunbar, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defensive line coach. Dunbar has been in his position for the last three seasons and has helped lead this Pittsburgh defense to becoming a top-3 unit in all of football — we’ll skip over their recent playoff exit, though.
Over the 2020 regular season, the Steelers led the NFL with 56 sacks led by 15.0 from T.J. Watt. In total, the Steelers had three players end the year with 8.0 or more sacks and nine players registered multiple sacks.
The Steelers’ defense is a fun one to watch on most days, as just about anyone could be rushing the quarterback on any given down. This is something the Bears have to start implementing again — the blitz.
Prior to joining the Steelers three years ago, Dunbar spent time with a college program that many NFL position coaches join for a little while before going back up to the pros — the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Many coaches who come from coaching under Nick Sagan at Alabama typically come back up to the NFL and see a lot of success, and Dunbar is no exception, although he’s been coaching for 17 years now and began his pro coaching career with the Bears back in 2004.
Over his time in the league, he’s coached some incredibly talented defensive lines such as the Minnesota Vikings defense (2006-2011) who led the league in rushing defense for three straight seasons and featured the likes of Jared Allen, Kevin Williams and Pat Williams.