Bobby April III was promoted to linebackers coach as head coach Rex Ryan's 2014 coaching staff is virtually complete and displays much continuity from last year's staff.
April III, who handled Quality Control–Defense last season, will take over the LB duties from Brian VanGorder, who left to become Notre Dame's defensive coordinator.
April, shown above with his father, long-time NFL assistant coach Bobby April II, in December in a photo by team photographer Al Pereira, spent the previous two seasons as Quality Control–Defense for the Eagles. Before that he spent one season at Nicholls State, and before that three seasons at Portland State as the special teams coordinator/inside linebackers coach from 2007-09. At that time he was believed to be the youngest coordinator, at the age of 25, in college football.
The only other change on the staff will be special teams coordinator, which is still open after Ben Kotwica accepted a job with the same title for the Washington Redskins.
There remains a strong sense of stability on the staff, which retains the services of defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman, assistant head coach/running backs Anthony Lynn, and offensive line coach Mike Devlin, all of whom will be entering their sixth seasons on Ryan's staff, and Marty Mornhinweg, who will return as offensive coordinator. Thirteen more coaches also return from this past season's staff.
Here is Ryan's current Jets coaching staff:
Offensive Coordinator — Marty Mornhinweg
Defensive Coordinator — Dennis Thurman
Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs — Anthony Lynn
Assistant Special Teams — Louie Aguiar
Linebackers — Bobby April III
Offensive Line — Mike Devlin
Defensive Line — Karl Dunbar
Head Strength & Conditioning — Justus Galac
Tight Ends — Steve Hagen
Assistant Offensive Line — Ron Heller
Wide Receivers — Sanjay Lal
Quarterbacks — David Lee
Defensive Backs — Tim McDonald
Assistant Strength & Conditioning — Pierre Ngo
Assistant Strength & Conditioning — Paul Ricci
Assistant Defensive Backs — Brian Smith
Assistant Defensive Line/Linebackers — Jeff Weeks
