Bobby April III, who joined the Gophers football program as rush ends coach in early January, is leaving Minnesota to become outside linebackers coach for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, a source with knowledge of the situation told the Minnesota Star Tribune on Monday, Feb. 2.
April previously coached the Bills’ linebackers in 2015 and 2016 and had stints coaching with the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles. He’ll be reunited with new Bills defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, the former Wisconsin defensive coordinator with whom April coached in Madison from 2018 to 2022. April spent the past three seasons as defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach at Stanford before the Cardinal made a coaching change after last season.
The Gophers hired April after moving C.J. Robbins from rush ends coach to defensive line coach. Robbins replaced Dennis Dottin-Carter, who was let go after the 2025 regular season.
April’s father, Bobby April Jr., had 30-year career as a collegiate and NFL assistant, including working from 2005 to 2009 as the Bills’ assistant head coach and special teams coordinator.
