Alabama Fires Baseball Coach Brad Bohannon Amid Gambling Probe; Players Reportedly Not Involved

Published|Updated

Alabama has made the decision to fire baseball coach Brad Bohannon. The news comes after the baseball program has been tied to suspicious activity centered around sports betting.

The school has been closely monitoring the situation over the past five days, along with the NCAA and the SEC. Multiple states suspended betting on Alabama baseball after suspicious activity was noted in the LSU-Alabama game on April 28.

Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne released a statement on Thursday morning detailing the firing process of Bohannon.

“Alabama director of athletics Greg Byrne announced he has initiated the termination process for head baseball coach Brad Bohannon for, among other things, violating the standards, duties, and responsibilities expected of University employees," the statement reads. "Bohannon has been relieved of all duties and Jason Jackson will serve as the interim head coach. There will be no further comment at this time pending an ongoing review.”

One report said the investigation is centered on Bohannon and not any players.

The betting saga around Alabama baseball continued this week, as another state joined Ohio in halting betting on the team. According to a report, New Jersey has stopped legal wagering on the Crimson Tide, as it continues to gather details.

Former Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon. (Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK)

How did all of this affect the decision from Byrne? The 'suspicious activity' was a red flag for the SEC and Alabama, which has been dealing with other high-profile issues in its athletics department.

With the timing of this announcement, it certainly appears that there is more to the story involving gambling. You don't fire a coach who is 30-15 on the season, the day of a game if it was something that could've waited until after the season. The Crimson Tide open up a three-game series against Vanderbilt on Thursday night in Tuscaloosa.

Bohannon served as the Alabama head coach since the 2018 season.

Tags
Written by
Trey Wallace is the host of The Trey Wallace Podcast that focuses on a mixture of sports, culture, entertainment along with his perspective on everything from College Football to the College World Series. Wallace has been covering college sports for 15 years, starting off while attending the University of South Alabama. He’s broken some of the biggest college stories including the Florida football "Credit Card Scandal" along with the firing of Jim McElwin and Kevin Sumlin. Wallace also broke one of the biggest stories in college football in 2020 around the NCAA investigation into recruiting violations against Tennessee football head coach Jeremy Pruitt. Wallace also appears on radio across seven different states breaking down that latest news in college sports.