Former Stanford Football Assistant Coach Lands with Minnesota Gophers

The coaching staff for Stanford will look a lot different under Tavita Pritchard.

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

When a new head coach is brought in to lead a program, coaching staff changes can be expected. And it looks like new Stanford head coach Tavita Pritchard is wasting no time in making sure that his coaching staff is truly his own.

Since being hired to be the new Stanford football head coach in late November, Pritchard has been hard at work in forming his own coaching staff. While formal announcements have not been made, there have been announcements as to which assistants will not return.

Recently the program announced that outside linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator, Bobby April III, would not return to the program for the 2026 season, ending his three-year stint on The Farm.

But soon after his departure was announced, April took very little time in finding a new job, landing a role as the outside linebackers/rush ends coach for the Minnesota Gophers of the Big Ten.

April is the son of longtime college and NFL assistant Bobby April Jr., and had served as the defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach at Stanford from 2023-25. He was originally hired by former head coach Troy Taylor.

After Taylor was fired prior to the 2025 season and replaced by interim head coach, Frank Reich, April remained on staff but became the co-defensive coordinator after the program hired ex-Sacramento State coach, Andy Thompson.

While April helped guide Stanford's defense to its best season in both total defense and scoring defense since 2017 and '18, the Cardinal are in the midst of a rebuild, and with Pritchard becoming the head coach, April's departure was expected.

Filling the role of outside linebackers/rush ends coach at Minnesota vacated by the promotion of C.J. Robbins, April heads to a program that is coming off of its second consecutive 8-5 season, winning the Rate Bowl over New Mexico.

April brings a lot of experience to Minnesota, serving as a coach in various roles since 2004. Starting his career as a student assistant at Louisiana-Lafayette before becoming a graduate assistant at Tulane, he got his first prominent assistant coaching job in 2007 when he served as Portland State's special teams coordinator for three seasons.

After serving as the special teams coordinator and safeties coach at Nicholls State in 2010, April began his NFL coaching career in 2011 as a quality control coach for the Philadelphia Eagles.

He then spent the following six seasons as an NFL assistant coach, including the 2013 season as a defensive quality control coach and the assistant linebacker coach for the New York Jets, while becoming the linebacker coach in 2014. In 2015 and '16, April III was the linebackers coach for the Buffalo Bills.

Not being on a coaching staff in 2017, April returned to the college ranks ahead of the 2018 campaign as the linebackers coach at Wisconsin; a role he served in from 2018-22.

Now, he goes to Minnesota with experience as a high level assistant after leading the Stanford defense for three years. If April can have the same effect for the Gophers, then expect them to take another step forward as a program.