Nobody can argue Germie Bernard won’t have a full college experience.
Alabama football’s newest incoming transfer, a wide receiver and the third player from Washington to accompany coach Kalen DeBoer from Seattle to Tuscaloosa, will compete in his third major conference in as many years this autumn. He began his career in the Big Ten at Michigan State as a true freshman in 2022, then moved on to Pac-12 champion UW last year before joining the SEC.
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PORTAL TRACKER: Alabama football transfers ahead of the 2024 season
If Bernard plays every game for the Crimson Tide this fall, he will have played in 15 Power Five stadiums in three seasons: Arizona, Illinois, LSU, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Penn State, Southern Cal, Stanford, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Washington and Wisconsin.
He played at Washington as a Spartan, and at Michigan State as a Husky. Throw in two CFP games, and he’s been moving like no one else since 2022.
Bernard will profit from the NCAA’s recent decision to suspend the multi-time transfer rule, which compels undergraduates to sit out a season after their second move. The rule is being challenged in court, and in the meanwhile, the NCAA is providing second-time transfers like Bernard automatic eligibility.
Austin Mack, former Washington freshman quarterback, and Parker Brailsford, Huskies’ second-team All-Pac 12 centre, have both transferred to Alabama. Alabama added three more players before retired coach Nick Saban stepped down: former Texas A&M OT Naquil Betrand, former Aggies DE LT Overton, and former Southern Cal CB Domani Jackson, bringing the total to six.
Will Alabama remain a scout’s paradise?
The reputation retired Alabama coach Nick Saban had with NFL scouts when it came to access to players and the UA football facility was sterling. And not every college coach is accommodating when it comes to that, because some consider scouting interest a distraction they’d rather their players avoid as long as possible. So how will new coach Kalen DeBoer handle scouting access? Scouts from two NFL teams, who declined to be identified due to club policy, tell me DeBoer is a scout-friendly coach as well, if not quite to the extent Saban was. And it would be short-sighted not to be, because interaction with scouts, while it might be an ego stroke, isn’t a swaying factor for underclassmen.
