Bills fire defensive line coach Karl Dunbar

The Buffalo Bills fired defensive line coach Karl Dunbar on Sunday.

Dunbar came over to the Bills from the New York Jets with head coach Rex Ryan in 2015 and had been with the Jets since 2012.

"This was a difficult decision as Karl both played for me and then coached on my staff with two different teams and I have a great deal of respect for him. But I feel we needed to make a change and go in a different direction at this point in time and so I have informed Karl that I am relieving him of his duties. I want to take this opportunity to thank Karl and wish him the best of luck in the future," Ryan said in a statement on the team's official website.

The Bills went from having the league's best pass rush in 2014, with 54 sacks, to the 31st-ranked pass rush last year with only 21 sacks.

Due to his lack of production and high cap hit, the Bills released defensive end Mario Williams after a disappointing 2015 season.

Dunbar has been coaching in the NFL since 2004 and played three seasons between the New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals from 1993-95 as a defensive tackle.