TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Ducking inside Alabama’s practice facility to escape the 94-degree heat following Wednesday's practice, Washington transfer receiver Germie Bernard met local reporters for the first time. The junior is one of four former Huskies to follow Kalen DeBoer from Seattle to Tuscaloosa this offseason. Wednesday, he listed his head coach as the primary reason for his cross-country trek

“The recipe that he has of winning,” Bernard said of DeBoer. “I mean if you look at his track record at every school that he’s been to, he’s winning and they have a great offense that’s gonna get receivers the ball and be explosive. That’s something that I wanted to be in.”

Benard signed with Michigan State and played 12 games for the Spartans during his freshman season in 2022. After transferring to Washington last offseason, he broke out in DeBoer’s pass-heavy offense, recording 34 receptions for 419 yards and two touchdowns while helping the Huskies to a Pac-12 title and an appearance in the national championship game.

Bernard’s production last season came despite sharing a receiving corps with early NFL draft picks Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk and Jalen McMillan. After joining Alabama in January, the junior finds himself as one of the primary targets in an up-and-coming unit.

“It’s a great opportunity to be able to be here and have this opportunity to start and have an impact on this team,” Bernard said. “I learned from a good group of receivers before me. I learned from Jayden Reed, Keon Coleman, Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan and Ja’Lynn Polk. I mean, I’ve seen it done at the highest level. I just got to apply that and bring it here, and bring it into the room so we can have a season that we had last year.”

Bernard led all Crimson Tide wideouts with 122 yards on three catches during the A-Day game this spring. That included two long receptions on passes from Jalen Milroe. Bernard said he’s spent the past few months looking to build on chemistry by spending plenty of time with his new starting quarterback.

“We’re hooking up on the field,” Bernard said. “Just finding the timing of throws and just communicating through practice. And off the field, I mean we watch film together all the time. Just seeing where each other’s head is at so when we’re on the practice field we can execute and translate into games.”

Bernard’s transition to Alabama has been eased tremendously by the addition of wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard, who also followed DeBoer over from Washington this offseason. The transfer receiver says playing under his former position coach also heavily influenced his decision to join the Tide.

“It’s just obviously the coaching aspect, you know what he does,” Bernard said of Shephard. “It’s more than that. It’s just the faith piece, the way he believes in God and the way he spreads his word to his players and everybody throughout the building. He’s a great man. He cares for others, he loves others, very unselfish. Man, like I said, he’s just a great dude overall.”

Shephard is also happy to be reunited with Bernard at Alabama. The first-year assistant has praised the transfer receiver several times, hinting at his role in this year’s offense.

“Germie is a pure receiver,” Shephard said during a February radio interview with Tide 100.9’s ‘The Game with Ryan Fowler.’ “He’s somebody that understands receiver play to a high level. He knows how to get to his route location. He understands how to gain leverage on defenders and win in those particular moments based on the leverage that he wants to create.”

After working with Alabama’s first-team offense throughout the spring, Bernard has led the Z receiving group in all six of Alabama’s preseason practices during camp. In his third school in three years, Bernard is beginning to feel comfortable in his new home. That is, outside of that brutal Alabama heat.

“I can’t lie, it’s been killer,” Bernard said with a laugh. “It’s been tough, but I just fight through it. That’s all, it’s really just mental.”