BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — As an undrafted free agent safety out of Wisconsin, Jim Leonhard broke into the National Football League in 2005 with the Buffalo Bills, whose special teams coach was Bobby April, Jr.
Leonhard and April, who was promoted to assistant head coach, were together for three years in Buffalo before Leonhard left for the Baltimore Ravens, whose defensive coordinator was Rex Ryan.
In 2009, Ryan was hired as the head coach of the New York Jets and Leonhard followed him to the Big Apple and signed a three-year free agent contract with the Jets.
Now fast forward to 2018.
April and Ryan turned out to be strong references and the common denominators between Leonhard and April's son, Bobby April III, who has been hired to coach Wisconsin's outside linebackers.
While Leonhard, the 35-year-old UW defensive coordinator, and April III, 36, had never crossed paths, they weren't total strangers when they talked X's and O's because of their mutual contacts.
Ryan also influenced April III, who was on his staff with the Jets and Bills.
"I wasn't necessarily familiar with him, but I knew of him," Leonhard said of April III, who has filled the vacancy created when Tim Tibesar left to be Oregon State's defensive coordinator.
"I was very impressed throughout the interviewing process with just how he thought about the game and what was important and what is going to make his players and our defense successful."
Leonhard felt April III was a "great fit" for UW with his personality and football knowledge along with "having the understanding of what we do and what has made us successful," he said.
That was among the things that came through loud and clear. He also had heard positive things about April III when the Badgers were seeking a linebackers coach to replace Justin Wilcox in 2017.
"I got a lot of phone calls from people that he had coached," Leonhard recounted from that search. "They were really believers in what he's all about. That was helpful as well."
Compatibility was a key element.
"Selfishly," Leonhard said, "he knows the background I came from, too."
From the Ryan mentoring standpoint, he elaborated, "He knows how I've been taught."
April III can attest to that frame of reference.
"I always admired Jimmy as a football player on how he came up through the Wisconsin program," he said, "and how he bounced around the NFL and found a niche for himself.
"It was really a pleasure to watch him as an outsider — also knowing how hard of a worker he was and how smart he was from my dad having coached him."
Bobby April, Jr., 64, has been a coaching survivor and lifetime assistant with multiple college and NFL teams for four-plus decades. Being a coach's kid has had its benefits.
"He's the main reason why I do what I do," said April III, a graduate of Louisiana-Lafayette (where he didn't play football). "He has been an unbelievable sounding board and helluva dad."
He also has impacted his son's approach to coaching by conditioning him to what is important.
"Bring energy. Be honest. Treat people the way you want to be treated," April III recited.
In his own fashion, Ryan delivered a similar message to his linebackers assistant.
"Rex helped shape me as a person, too," said April III, noting Ryan's commandments included, "Trust the players. Let the players be the playmakers. Let the coaches be the coaches."
Ryan and his dad haven't been the only teachers in his life. Jerry Glanville hired April III at Portland State. Glanville, a defensive specialist, was one of the more colorful coaches in the sport.
"It's kind of an interesting story," said April III, "because Jerry got my dad his first full-time NFL job with Atlanta. And 15 years later, Jerry hired me for my first full-time job in college.
"Jerry is a really, really smart, intellectual football coach. He's very similar to Rex where he wanted the players to make plays and he wanted the coaches to allow that to happen."
April III has tried to make the most out of his experience from the college and NFL arenas.
"At the college level, it's more about developing talent from within and improving that way," he said, "opposed to the NFL where if it's not working, you go find a guy to fix it."
In this context, Wisconsin appealed to him for many reasons.
"I know the tradition, the toughness and the chip-on-the-shoulder mentality," he said. "And the growth from within in a program that was everything I was looking for in developing my coaching style.
"I was hoping they would call and offer me the job from the time I stepped on campus and saw the attitude of the team, the attitude of the coaching staff and the attitude of the city."
Head coach Paul Chryst's attitude closed the deal.
"Obviously, I've only talked to him a few times over the last few weeks," he said. "But he's an awesome man and I look forward to a lot of further talks and interactions with him."
As the outside linebackers coach, April III will work closely with Bob Bostad, the inside linebackers coach. "He's so detailed and organized," April III said, "we're going to work great together."
The Badgers must replace their starting edge players: Garret Dooley and Leon Jacobs. It's a familiar storyline. The year before, T.J. Watt and Vince Biegel were part of the turnover on defense.
"I don't know what's in the water here at Wisconsin," said April III, alluding to the program's ability to reload, not rebuild. "But that seems like the M.O. of who we are.
"Same thing for defensive coordinators (Leonhard followed Wilcox who followed Dave Aranda). Same thing for the defensive front seven. Shoot, it's the same thing in the back end."
Andrew Van Ginkel will be among the most seasoned returnees at outside linebacker. Joining him will be Tyler Johnson and Christian Bell. Zack Baun, who lettered in 2016, was injured last season.
"This is the time of the year," Leonhard said, "when you spend a lot of time looking at the good, the bad and the ugly from the previous year. You get a lot of ideas.
"It's exciting to sit back and think about what you can do better and what you can change to help your guys make plays and be effective."
Leonhard expects April III to add to the defense's growth by bringing some fresh ideas. Especially given that "understanding of what we've done here in the past," he reiterated.
"It's a core belief in who you are and what you believe in," he said of what came across the strongest in speaking with April III. "Next, it's, 'How are you going to help us take this to the next level?'
"Whether it's scheme, whether it's technique. Maybe we're able to implement some things that I think can take this defense to a different place.
"We don't need to change much," Leonhard went on. "I felt that was the case a year ago when I got the coordinator's job. Our guys trust what they do and they're good at it.
"I don't want to make changes just to make changes. But we have similar backgrounds as far as where we've come from philosophically in the NFL."
Leonhard has always been willing to listen and learn. April III has the same qualities. And they may have been heightened last season when he was out of coaching.
"I was 100 percent trying my best to be the best husband and best dad I could possibly be," said April III, who has been living in New Orleans with his wife Laura and daughter Olivia Grace.
"I visited some colleges and NFL teams. I got the NFL Game Plan and watched every game on iPad and studied tapes. I did some projects for different people looking for a different perspective.
"My network is strong, and I think that I developed a little more appreciation for the job not being in it … it's going to make me a better coach because my desire to stay in it is so much better."
Now April can't wait until March, and spring practice.
"It's time for me to get rolling again," he said.
