It appears that Signal, the encrypted messaging app, may have played a large role in the downfall of former University of Alabama head baseball coach Brad Bohannon.
Bohannon was fired after a large scale investigation took place into betting involving a game between Bohannon’s Crimson Tide and No.1 LSU in April.
Before the game in question, Alabama’s starting pitcher was forced to scratch and the team resorted to having a backup pitcher. According to Sports Illustrated this week, Bohannon partnered with Bert Eugene Neff Jr. to place a $100,000 bet against his own team at the BetMGM Sportsbook at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.
The SI story said when Neff attempted to place the six-figure bet at the Cincinnati location, workers became suspicious because the amount requested in the bet greatly exceeded the sportsbook’s established house limit on college baseball. After being questioned by some of the employees, Neff Jr. reportedly told them that he had “inside information on the game.”
While Neff Jr. was attempting to place the bet, the SI story said, he was in communication with Bohannon on a cellphone via Signal, an encrypted messaging app.
Apparently, according to the SI report, Neff Jr. was not discreet about the texting and surveillance cameras were able to focus on his phone screen and see the messages between the former coach and his associate.
“[Video cameras] can see the [text] conversation back-and-forth,” a source familiar with the incident told si.com. “It couldn’t have been any more reckless.”
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.
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