College Coach Loses Job Over Suspicious Bets

Surveillance video showed gambler in touch with Alabama's Brad Bohannon
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted May 5, 2023 2:50 PM CDT
Suspicious Bet Leads to College Coach's Firing
Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon, left, argues with umpire Joe Harris after being tossed from a game Saturday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.   (Michael Johnson/The Advocate via AP)

University of Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon has been fired after gambling regulators in other states halted wagering on his school's games on concerns over suspicious betting. While an investigation is being conducted, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania are not allowing bets to be placed on Alabama games, CBS Sports reports. The suspension was imposed after an independent monitor raised the alarm about Alabama's game against Louisiana State University last Friday night, involving two bets put down in Cincinnati, per ESPN. If wagering is halted, it's usually a state decision, because there is no national regulator.

Alabama changed its starting pitcher an hour before the game was to begin, and surveillance video at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati showed a bettor in communication with Bohannon as the wager was placed, per CBS. LSU won the game, per the Columbus Dispatch. Bohannon had coached the team for six years. "There must be zero tolerance for activity that puts into question the integrity of competition," SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. Sportsbook FanDuel has taken Alabama baseball off its betting menu in all jurisdictions in the interim. (More sports betting stories.)

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