Baseball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Phone:
- 205-348-4029
Brad Bohannon begins his fifth season as the head coach of the Crimson Tide baseball program in 2021-22. He was named head baseball coach at The University of Alabama by Director of Athletics Greg Byrne on June 1, 2017. Bohannon, who became the 32nd head coach in Crimson Tide baseball history, was formally introduced at a press conference on June 5, 2017.
Bohannon arrived at Alabama with a plan to build his program around the total player, placing an equal focus on athletics and academics. Consistent success in recruiting the total player has proved to be key in the rebuild of Alabama baseball, which has returned to national prominence under Bohannon’s watch. During his tenure, the Tide has produced multiple top-10 recruiting classes and seen nearly 20 players selected in the MLB Draft. Not only has Alabama’s roster gotten better on the field but also in the classroom as UA has set a program record for grade-point average each year under Bohannon. He has also helped 30 players graduate with a total of 32 degrees, including four master’s degrees under his watch.
The Alabama head coach owns a 105-82 (.562) career mark in Tuscaloosa and has guided the program in a positive direction every year since arriving at the Capstone. Each of his teams have improved upon the previous year’s win total and that progress continued in the most recent season. The 2021 campaign saw Alabama finish at 32-26 overall, the program’s first 30-win campaign since 2016. Alabama also posted double-digit conference wins for the first time since that ’16 season, finishing with 12 wins during the regular season and 14 total wins against SEC opponents.
Alabama’s regular-season success propelled the Tide into the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2016 where UA would advance to the quarterfinal round for the first time since 2015. The Crimson Tide’s time in Hoover was highlighted by wins over then-No. 24 South Carolina and an extra-innings victory against then-No. 4 Tennessee. Those two wins added to an already impressive resume for the Tide, earning Alabama a spot in the NCAA Ruston Regional. The Regional appearance was UA’s first since 2014 and the 25th in program history.
The Crimson Tide’s run to the NCAA postseason was even more impressive due to the fact that the young 2021 roster featured only eight total pitchers and four position players who had seen time in an SEC game. Alabama’s roster also featured zero players who had played in the SEC Tournament or an NCAA Tournament. Along with a lack of experience, the Crimson Tide was tasked with overcoming multiple injuries to key contributors throughout the season, the most prominent being to weekend starters Antoine Jean and preseason All-America candidate Connor Prielipp. Without the pair of 2020 Freshman All-Americans, UA looked to veterans Dylan Smith and Tyler Ras. The juniors each excelled on the weekends with Ras tying for the team lead in wins and Smith posting a team-high 113 strikeouts.
Bohannon’s guidance helped Alabama pick up multiple postseason honors in 2021. The Crimson Tide had four players earn a combined six spots on the SEC’s postseason awards lists, highlighted by Sam Praytor. The Tide catcher was selected as a First Team All-SEC honoree, the program’s first first-teamer since 2012. Praytor was joined by Peyton Wilson, who was tabbed as a second-teamer at second base, while also being named to the league’s Newcomer All-SEC Team along with teammate Zane Denton. Denton paired with Ras as All-Defensive Team honorees by the league.
Praytor’s success did not stop there as he was named a third team All-American along with Alabama’s closer Chase Lee at season’s end. An aerospace engineering major, Lee also earned CoSIDA Academic All-District 4 Team recognition for his work in the classroom. Lee became one of just 15 Crimson Tide players to earn all-district recognition from CoSIDA and joined Kolby Robinson as the program’s second in as many seasons.
Bohannon’s eye for recruiting talent and player development skills were on full display during the 2021 MLB Draft as Wilson, Smith, Lee, Praytor and Ras each went on to hear their name called. Wilson, who was taken in the second round, became Alabama’s highest drafted second baseman in program history and was one of just 12 Crimson Tide players to be selected in the first or second round of the draft. Smith then went in the third round, making him the 10th Alabama pitcher to be taken in the top-three rounds and only the fifth right-hander, while Lee was selected in the sixth round to mark UA’s highest selection for a reliever since 2014. Praytor joined Lee in the sixth round while Ras went in the 14th round. Alabama’s four picks through the first six rounds were the most by any single Crimson Tide roster in program history and tied the 1983 team for the most picks through the first 10 rounds of any MLB Draft. In addition, Alabama’s five total selections across the first 15 rounds tied the 2015 squad for the most over that stretch in program history.
The five selections in the 2021 draft were a part of the upgrade in talent that Bohannon has infused the Alabama program with. Known for his recruiting prowess, the Crimson Tide head coach has stocked his rosters with top recruits each year since his arrival. The Tide welcomed a second consecutive top-10 class to campus in the Fall of 2019. The ’19 crop of players were rated as a top-20 or better class by all major recruiting outlets, peaking as the nation’s No. 7 class, according to Collegiate Baseball News. The group was made up of 15 newcomers and was highlighted by five players who were selected in the 2019 MLB Draft but elected to come to the Capstone, including Owen Diodati, Jean and Prielipp.
The talent of that ’19 class was immediately on display, helping the 2020 team to early success. The group of Diodati, Jean and Prielipp all made significant contributions on the way to a 16-1 overall mark in a season that was ended early. The trio helped Alabama enter Southeastern Conference play ranked for the first time since 2010 and finish the year ranked 18th by CBN in addition to No. 21 in both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and the USA Today Coaches polls. Diodati led Alabama and tied for third in the SEC in RBI with 22, while ranking seventh in home runs and 11th in the league in slugging at .673, a total that was second among Alabama bats. Jean and Prielipp each posted a team-high tying three wins across their four starts apiece, with Prielipp maintaining a perfect 0.00 ERA that was tied with eight other arms for lowest in the nation (minimum 15.0 innings pitched). Prielipp’s impressive start to his freshman campaign earned him both D1Baseball.com’s “Top Freshman Pitcher” and Perfect Game USA’s “Impact Freshman of the Year” recognition.
Diodati joined Wilson in accumulating SEC Freshman of the Week accolades, both of which came during the Crimson Tide’s 14-game winning streak to start the 2020 season. Alabama’s hot start was the second-best winning streak to begin a new season and the longest streak of any kind under Bohannon. It was also the standalone fifth-longest winning stretch at any point in a season in program history. That hot streak featured a program-best 11 wins in the month of February, surpassing the previous total of 10 as part of a 10-0 February in 1997.
The 2020 team also played standout defense once again, a key attribute of Bohannon’s Crimson Tide teams. One-year removed from setting the program’s season-high mark for fielding percentage, the 2020 squad committed only 10 errors across 648 chances for an SEC-best .985 mark. The Tide’s .985 fielding percentage was also ranked ninth nationally at season’s end.
In addition to a standout 2019 group, Bohannon’s first class at the Capstone in 2018 was ranked No. 10 by CBN, despite just over a year to recruit to UA. That group played a key role in helping Alabama finish 30-26 overall in 2019, an improvement of three wins from 2018 and 11 from the year prior to Bohannon’s arrival in 2017. Despite losing a significant amount of its offense from the year prior, the Crimson Tide saw three freshmen and one sophomore combine to contribute more than 30 percent of nearly every offensive statistic, highlighted by the foursome’s 26 home runs – 55 percent of the team’s total roundtrippers for the year.
The Tide’s 2019 overall record featured a 23-3 mark in non-conference pairings and included a 13-1 record in midweek matchups along with a 14-3 record against schools from the state of Alabama. The 23 wins against non-conference opponents were the most by a Crimson Tide team since 2010 and the .885 winning percentage was Alabama’s highest since 2002 when the team finished at 24-2 (.923) in regular season non-conference play.
During the 2019 campaign, the Crimson Tide went on a 12-game winning streak from Feb. 24 through March 12. The stretch was the longest winning streak under Bohannon at the time and tied for the eighth-longest in program history up to that point. Alabama also claimed a win in the MAX Capital City Classic over Auburn, the team’s first victory in the neutral-site pairing with the Tigers since 2014 and just the second for UA in the event’s 10-year history.
The biggest improvement by the 2019 squad came in the field. Alabama’s defense finished the season with a .978 fielding percentage to set the program mark for single-season fielding percentage while committing only 44 errors, the fewest by a Crimson Tide defense in 25-plus years. The fielding percentage surpassed the previous record of .976 by the 2015 team and made a significant jump from the Tide’s .969 percentage in 2018 that included 65 total errors. Alabama’s pitchers increased their strikeout total by 99 in 2019 while the opponent walks and batting average also declined under Bohannon’s watch. On offense, Tide hitters contributed 300 runs and walked 285 times while showing marked improvement on the basepaths. UA finished with 60 stolen bases, the most by an Alabama team since 2015.
Bohannon immediately made his mark on the Alabama program in his first year on campus. The 2018 season saw the Crimson Tide get off to a perfect 9-0 start, with Bohannon matching Wallace Wade (1924) for the second-best start to an Alabama head coaching career. Under his direction, Alabama improved its win total by eight from the previous season, including three more victories in SEC play, finishing with a 27-29 overall record and an 8-22 mark in conference action. The 27 wins were punctuated by six victories over top-25 teams, including a series win over then-No. 7 Kentucky.
Sewell-Thomas Stadium also became a favorable spot for the Tide once again in 2018, as UA closed out its home slate with a 22-13 (.629) mark at The Joe compared to a 14-22 record in 2017. Alabama was rarely out of a game with Bohannon at the helm, with 14 losses coming by two runs or less, including five of the Tide’s six losses in the month of May – all against SEC opposition.
Bohannon came to Tuscaloosa with 14 years of Southeastern Conference coaching experience after having served as an assistant at Kentucky from 2004-15 and Auburn from 2016-17. Regarded as one of the best recruiters in the nation, he was responsible for signing 14 Wildcat student-athletes that went on to play in the Major Leagues, including 2014 Golden Spikes Award winner A.J. Reed, while his first recruiting class at Auburn was ranked No. 9 by Collegiate Baseball and included six 2017 starters for the Tigers. His recruits at Auburn went on to fill all starting roles on the 2018 team that reached the Gainesville Super Regional, falling one run short of reaching the College World Series.
Dating back to 2008, all of Bohannon’s recruiting classes prior to coming to Alabama were ranked in the top 25, including: 2008 (No. 4); 2009 (No. 6); 2010 (No. 16); 2011 (No. 25); 2012 (No. 11); 2013 (No. 25); 2014 (No. 16); 2015 (No. 9); 2016 (No. 9); and 2017 (No. 6). During his time in the collegiate ranks, he has signed recruits from 28 different states and Canada, three of which have gone on to be first-round picks in the MLB Draft.
He played a pivotal role in turning around both Kentucky and Auburn within three years on the job. The Wildcats became the first team in SEC history to go from worst-to-first in only one season, winning 44 games and the program’s first league title in 2006, while the Tigers won 12 more games in 2017 than in 2016 and advanced to the NCAA tournament. In addition to improving in the win column, the 2017 squad set the school record for fielding percentage at .975.
While at Kentucky, Bohannon served under two SEC Coach of the Year honorees in John Cohen and Gary Henderson. Along with winning the school’s only league title, Bohannon was a part of a trio of record-breaking win seasons, capped off by the 2012 team that won 45 games to set the program mark.
A combined 69 Wildcat student-athletes were chosen in the Major League Baseball draft or signed as a free agent during Bohannon’s tenure as recruiting coordinator. He had nine recruits selected in the 2012 draft, which set a new Kentucky record and was second-most in the NCAA. The 2018 MLB Draft saw seven former recruits from Bohannon’s time in Lexington chosen to begin their professional careers, four of which went in the top-10 rounds, highlighted by junior right-hander Sean Hjelle, a second-round selection of the San Francisco Giants.
One of Bohannon’s most notable recruits was the aforementioned Reed, who was tabbed as the consensus national player of the year in 2014. The 2012 freshman All-American continued to improve each year under Bohannon’s watch and went on to lead the NCAA in home runs and slugging percentage as a junior, while leading the SEC in wins by a pitcher.
Prior to his stint at Kentucky, Bohannon worked for two seasons at Wake Forest as an assistant on George Greer’s staff. In his two seasons in Winston-Salem, the Demon Deacons advanced to the NCAA Tournament twice and captured the Atlantic Coast Conference title in 2001.
In addition to his collegiate coaching experience, Bohannon also spent the summer of 2005 managing the Southern Ohio Copperheads of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League.
Bohannon earned an undergraduate degree in finance in 1998 from Berry College in Georgia. He then went on to earn a master’s degree in business administration from Wake Forest in 2002. Bohannon began his collegiate career playing at Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech before finishing up at Berry.
A native of Rome, Ga., Bohannon is married to the former Kim Traylor.
