Stanford's Bobby April III ranks as one of the best coaches in college football

There are often debates as to who is the best at everything.

People will argue who is the best coach, player, hotel, or even who has the best food on the road and while there is truly never an absolute way to determine this via people's opinion, one way that can help determine this is through a formula that takes everything into account. Something that Matrix Analytical Solutions developed, which is known as the Coach Rating Index. It is used to measure the careers of all on-field coaches, regardless of position.

In a recent article by 247Sports' Brandon Marcello the top-10 coaches in college football were ranked using this metric, which is best explained as:

The CRI is "a massive grading system with over 30,000 individual unit profiles and over 250,000 annual coaching result reports. If a coach was designated in an on-field role in that time span in either the FBS or FCS levels, he is in the database with a career number rating & accompanying career star rating."

Now that we have that out of the way, something that is no surprise to anyone at Wisconsin or now at Stanford, is how high defensive coordinator Bobby April III ranked. He came in at No. 5, with a rating of 97.08, which for reference the average grade of a coach is a 60.

Marcello broke down what makes April III so special citing his success in the last three seasons at Wisconsin.

It's no surprise to see a former Wisconsin coach, particularly on defense, on this list. Bobby April III was part of a defensive staff that finished in the top-5 nationally in total defense for three straight years, and his outside linebackers were a big reason why the Badgers were so good against the run. Nick Herbig was a consensus All-Big Ten selection and an All-American after leading the conference with 11 sacks last season. The Badgers allowed only 64.8 yards rushing per game in 2021, the second-best mark in college football since 2008.

Stanford will need all of April's recruiting and developmental skills this upcoming season, as the Cardinal lost a slew of players to the portal and to the NFL. Not to mention, they rank No. 129 in returning production out of 133 according to ESPN.

However, the Cardinal have already seen what April III can do on the recruiting trail as the Cardinal have ascended to the No. 9 recruiting class in the country and have landed two four-star EDGE's in the 2024 class. Troy Taylor clearly assembled a very underrated staff, and April III will likely be one of the key reasons this program succeeds in the future.