Buffalo Bills Getting a Coach Back After Stint with Stanford

Bobby April III is heading back to the NFL

Oct 22, 2015; London, United Kingdom; Buffalo Bills linebackers coach Bobby April III at practice at the Grove hotel in preparation for the NFL International Series game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

This has certainly been a winter of change and opportunity for former Stanford football defensive coordinator, Bobby April III, who originally left this farm this offseason to join the Minnesota Gophers as the program's new new rush ends coach after the Rate Bowl at the end of last year.

Now the former Stanford football assistant is getting another shot to coach football at the highest level, as the former defensive coordinator accepted a job with the Buffalo Bills to serve as the team's outside linebackers coach under new head coach, Joe Brady. This marks April's return to the NFL for the first time since 2016 and his second stint with the Bills.

Serving as Stanford's defensive coordinator from 2023-25 under head coaches Troy Taylor and Frank Reich, April III was one of many coaches that new head coach Tavita Pritchard opted not to bring back.

The move to hire April III comes only a couple of days after the Bills hired Jim Leonhard to be the defensive coordinator, with the two working together at the University of Wisconsin from 2018-22. During their time together at Wisconsin, April III served as the outside linebackers coach while Leonhard was the defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach.

April III previously worked for the Bills from 2015-16 as the linebackers coach under former head coach, Rex Ryan. Prior to that, April III's NFL experience consisted of working as the defensive quality control coach for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2011-12, the New York Jets defensive quality control and assistant linebackers coach in 2013 and the Jets' head linebackers coach in 2014 before joining the Bills.

After two seasons with Buffalo, April III returned to the college ranks and coached at that level for the next eight years.

The son of legendary special teams coach, Bobby April Jr., April III started his coaching career back in 2004 as a student-assistant at his alma mater, Louisiana-Lafayette. After graduating, April III then went to graduate school at Tulane and served as graduate assistant for its football program from 2005-06.

April III then got his first full-time coaching job in 2007, when he was hired to be the special teams coordinator and inside linebackers coach at Portland State. Following three seasons at Portland State, April III became the special teams coordinator/safeties coach at Nicholls State in 2010 before heading to the NFL the following season.

April III's opportunity to go back to the NFL comes at a good time. In an offseason where there have been more coaching openings than normal, April III will use the 2026 season to prove that he has what it takes to be a defensive coordinator at the NFL level, joining a franchise that has seen immense regular season success in recent seasons.

The Bills have also struggled to get over the hump and not only win a Super Bowl, but make it to one. But it is now a new era for the Bills franchise, and one that April III and his fellow staff members hope will result in Buffalo's first ever Super Bowl win. The franchise's two titles were back in 1964-65 when they were still in the AFL.