All-Time NFL Players From Acadiana: Karl Dunbar

A number of people have represented the Acadiana area in the National Football League.

All summer long, we’re going to spotlight the fantastic athletes from the area, people that were actually born in one of the Acadiana parishes, that went on to play football at the highest level, the NFL.

Yesterday, we profiled former New Iberia Senior High great Johnny Hector.

Today, we spotlight former Plaisance High School standout Karl Dunbar.

Born on May 18, 1967 in Opelousas, Karmichael MacKenzie "Karl" Dunbar grew up in St. Landry Parish, and attended Plaisance High School.

Following his high school years, Dunbar went on to college at LSU, where he earned second-team All-SEC defensive tackle honors as a senior in 1989.

The 6-foot-4, 275-pound Dunbar was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 8th round of the 1990 NFL Draft.

After being out of football for two years, and then spending the 1992 season with the Orlando Thunder of the World League of American Football, Dunbar made his NFL debut with the New Orleans Saints in 1993, at the age of 26, playing in 13 games, including one start, totaling 24 tackles at his defensive end position.

The 1994 season saw Dunbar move to the Arizona Cardinals, where he played for two seasons, prior to retiring following the 1995 campaign.

In three NFL seasons, Dunbar appeared in 21 games, including one as a starter, accumulating 27 total tackles.

After his playing days, Dunbar got into the coaching ranks, with stops at Opelousas High School in 1996, and then Beau Chene in 1997, before his first college coaching job, as defensive line coach at Nicholls St., from 1998-1999.

Dunbar was the strength & conditioning coach at LSU for two years (2000-2001), prior to becoming the defensive line coach at Oklahoma St. the next two years (2002-2003).

Since 2004, Dunbar has been a defensive line coach in both college and the NFL, spending time with the Chicago Bears (2004), LSU (2005), the Minnesota Vikings (2006-2011), the New York Jets (2012-2014), the Buffalo Bills (2015), and Alabama (2016-present).

Today, Dunbar is 50-years old.

Dunbar's son, Karmichael Dunbar, played his college football for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, where he was an honorable mention All-Sun Belt Conference selection in 2016, and the recipient of the Hardy F. Edmistion, Jr., Sportsmanship Award.