On Thursday, pitching coach Jason Jackson replaced former head coach Brad Bohannon as the head coach of the Alabama baseball team. The midseason change follows Bohannon’s recent firing and his alleged betting.  

Bohannon came to Tuscaloosa on June 5, 2017, as the 32nd head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide baseball program. During his six seasons with the team, Bohannon had a total record of 166-124, with 2021 being his most successful year with a pair of SEC and NCAA Tournament appearances.  

Upon his appointment to the Alabama job, Bohannon was regarded as one of the best recruiters and program builders in all of college baseball. Bohannon previously spent time as an assistant coach at Wake Forrest, Kentucky and Auburn before becoming the head coach of the Crimson Tide. During his 11 years at Kentucky, Bohannon was a stellar recruiter, with all his Wildcat recruiting classes since 2008 being ranked in the top 25.  

Crimson Tide Athletics released a statement regarding head coach Brad Bohanon. 

“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. Bohannon was 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,” the statement read.  

Jackson will take over as the interim coach until the season end. He first arrived in Tuscaloosa a week after Bohannon, joining his staff after serving as a pitching coach at Florida Atlantic University for nine years. After leading the Crimson Tide to a series win over Vanderbilt, Jackson inherited a 32-16 (SEC 11-13) record.  

Jackon takes over a team that has an above-average batting average of .305 with 78 total home runs and 367 runs scored. However, it is not the offense he will have to work with, but the pitching. 

Being the pitching coach, Jackson has a close relationship with the pitching crop of this Alabama squad and will need to juice the best ounce of baseball they have left in them to make a push for the SEC and NCAA tournament. As a pitching staff, they have an above-average ERA of 4.25, surrendering 184 earned runs and 51 home runs.  

Alabama has two SEC series left, including one against the defending champions, Ole Miss. Alabama currently sits at No. 3 in the SEC West and is expected to compete in the NCAA regionals as a two or three seed in the region.  

Jackson will look to right the ship and keep Alabama hot at home to guide this team into the SEC and NCAA tournaments despite the recent coaching changes.