Gopher Football Loses Assistant Before He Got Started

Minnesota Gophers head coach football coach P.J. Fleck has been busy this offseason, recruiting and shuffling talent in/out of the transfer portal. But there’s been plenty of turnover on his coaching staff as well.

Among the new faces among PJ’s coaches was supposed to be Bobby April III, who was coming in from Stanford to lead the rush ends group in defense.

It looked like a great opportunity for April, being OLB is one of Minnesota’s biggest strengths on defense, entering 2026, with its full complement of starters returning from last year’s squad plus Cal transfer, T.J. Bush Jr.

Bobby April III leaving the MN Gophers

But hopefully Bobby didn’t buy a house or spend too much time studying up the U of M campus. Because on Sunday, news broke that he’s leaving before ever coaching his first game in maroon and gold, after being hired as the Buffalo Bills’ new OLB coach,

The #Bills are hiring Bobby April III as their new OLBs coach, source said. He was the DC at Stanford the last 3 years, and previously to that, he worked with Jim Leonhard at Wisconsin. April was with the Bills 10 years ago, as well.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 2, 2026

Last week, Joe Brady took over for Sean McDermott as Bills head coach. That allowed for Minnesota to have their new assistant coach poached to the NFL way earlier than expected.

Now, instead of coaching EDGE rushers in Dinkytown, April will now oversee OLBs in Buffalo… and received an NFL paycheck. It’s unfortunate for the Minnesota Gophers, however, who now back on the prowl for their second EDGE coach this offseason.

Not only does April have a precious relationship with Bills DC Jim Leonhard, who coached together at the University of Wisconsin, but he’s familiar with the Bills organization as well.

April was Buffalo’s linebackers coach during the 2015-2016 seasons, under Rex Ryan. After two years off, he landed with Wisconsin, where he met up with Leonard.

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