The Biker Coach
Electric bike allows line coach to get around Saint Vincent’s hills with ease (and style)
As the Steelers’ defensive line coach, Karl Dunbar always wants his guys to play with a good motor. Dunbar’s taking his own advice this training camp, but he’s working smart, not hard.
Each day at Saint Vincent College, while every other player and coach either walks or hitches a ride on a golf cart, Dunbar goes his own way. He’s been riding around all training camp on an Aventon ebike, a motorized bicycle that gets the massive Dunbar — he was listed at 6-foot-4, 275 pounds during his playing days — everywhere he needs to go.
The first reaction of defensive tackle Montravius Adams when he saw his position coach pull up on two wheels? “That’s a strong bike,” Adams cracked.
Dunbar, 56, has been on Mike Tomlin’s staff since 2018, so he’s well-versed in the logistical hurdles of training camp. This isn’t his first rodeo at Saint Vincent, where the Steelers live a little bit like college kids for a few weeks each summer, but it is his first bike rodeo.
The idea actually came via Dunbar’s wife, Pamela. They like to go for walks in North Park, which sparked her interest in another means for getting around the lake. Dunbar told her he’d buy one, try it out in Latrobe, and let her know how it is.
“My legs are sore from riding up and down these hills,” he said with a chuckle. “But it’s great. I don’t have to wait for the golf carts to pick me up. I press a button and I’m gone.”
Indeed, Dunbar parks his ride under a tent near the scoreboard at Chuck Noll Field every day the team practices. When they’re done, he’s usually the first person out of there, rolling past fans and getting away from the sunbaked grass.
At first, players were a bit confused when Dunbar showed up with his own personal transportation. And it was even more jarring to see the ebike at work.
“I didn’t know how he was going up a hill without pedaling,” said defensive tackle Jonathan Marshall. “It must have a battery or something. I was like, ‘How’s he beating us?’ Because he is beating us everywhere on that bike.”
While Dunbar is unique in 2023, he’s not the first to take campus travel into his own hands. Longest-tenured Steeler Cam Heyward recalls Ben Roethlisberger
riding around on a segway one year, and in 2015, several players made use of hoverboards.
“We’ve had our fair share of toys around here,” Heyward said.
Dunbar’s toy, to be specific, is an Aventon ebike with a step-over frame and a 750-watt motor. He picked it up at Biketek Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill, put a bike rack on the back of his truck and feels like a regular cyclist now.
The fat tires and assisted pedaling help ensure that Dunbar doesn’t end up on the coach version of injured reserve, and with one week left of camp, his innovation has been a hit. Dunbar
joked that you might see more bikes next year, and if that’s the case, he wants a kick-back from Biketek owner Frank Bruno.
“It’s a pretty good way to get around here,” said defensive end Isaiahh Loudermilk. “If he wants to get somewhere, just hop on that, and it’s not too taxing. I’m pretty sure I’m going to get one myself. It’s the smooth pedaling that swayed me.”
“Yeah, they’re all talking about when they’re going to go and get one,” Dunbar said. “But it’s awesome. I love it.”
And Dunbar’s players seem to love him. As a coach who has worked under Nick Saban twice, at LSU and Alabama, he knows firsthand how a team must operate to win championships. But he’s also one of the friendlier members of Tomlin’s staff, a jolly giant who hasn’t let the skin condition vitiligo stop him from his athletic and now coaching pursuits.
Dunbar actually was drafted by the Steelers in 1990 out of LSU, in the eighth round, but missed his entire rookie year with a foot injury from his college days. He was considered the best technician among the team’s young defensive linemen, but he no longer had NFL-caliber physical traits, so he was one of the final cuts in 1991.
While he never played in a game for the Steelers, what Dunbar did do was learn from defensive line coach Joe Greene and soak up knowledge about the franchise. Those values have stayed with him, and they’re the same ones he tries to pass down now to his tackles.
“I played here with Gerald Williams from Auburn, when he was our nose tackle,” Dunbar remembered. “Goddarn, we’ve had a whole bunch of people who have played that position, and I’m just trying to make sure it’s played at that same standard that I was taught how to do.”
Heyward is the face of the defensive line, but behind the scenes, Dunbar quietly presides over what might be the deepest group on the team. His unit has been stocked and restocked with talent, experience, youth and depth.
And acknowledging that Heyward won’t be here forever, young players such as DeMarvin Leal and Keeanu Benton soon will be expected to step up and carry on tradition. Dunbar likes to have fun — especially riding around in his usual bucket hat from the locker room to the dorms to the cafeteria to the field and everywhere in between — but his players respect his work.
“To be honest, man, Dunbar’s a hell of a teacher,” Adams said. “He’s a guy who definitely builds [players’] morale up, gives them confidence and lets them play to their strengths.”
But will he let Adams take the bike for a spin before camp breaks Thursday?
“He’s a good dude. I’m sure he would,” Adams replied. “I might not bring it back, but it’s cool. He knows where I live.”
“I didn’t know how he was going up a hill without pedaling. It must have a battery or something. I was like, ‘How’s he beating us?’ Because he is beating us everywhere on that bike.”
— Jonathan Marshall