‘Teddy Bridgewater bill’ moves step closer to law after passage by Florida Senate

Following an incident that led NFL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to be suspended from his high school coaching duties, the Florida Senate passed a bill that would make his infraction legal. According to Local 10 News, The “Teddy Bridgewater bill” allows high school head coaches to use personal funds to provide financial assistance to their players, so long as they report what they spend.

The Florida High School Athletic Association suspended Bridgewater in September for the rest of the 2025-26 school year for providing impermissible benefits to athletes. Bridgewater coached Miami Northwestern High School football in 2024 and was set to lead the team in 2025 before he left the school to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Northwestern suspended Bridgewater in July after he revealed in a social media post that he spent $700 a week on Uber rides for his players during the 2024 season. He also acknowledged covering transportation, team-branded clothing, meals and recovery-related expenses at combined costs of about $27,000. Bridgewater in that post asked for donations to the Northwestern football program.

If Senate Bill 178 becomes law, coaches in Florida would be permitted to make such personal expenditures. A similar bill is also currently moving through the Florida House.

“I’m protective, and I’m a father first before anything,” Bridgewater said last season upon signing with the Buccaneers. “And when I decided to coach, those players became my sons. And I wanted to make sure that I just protected them in the best way that I can. I think that’s what came about.

“Miami Northwestern’s in a tough neighborhood and sometimes things can happen when the kids are walking home and things like that. So I was just trying to protect them and give them a ride home instead of having to take those dangerous walks.”

Bridgewater took the coaching job after announcing his retirement from the NFL in February 2024, and he led Northwestern to a Florida Class 3A state championship in his first and only season at the helm. His team went 12-2 and rolled through the playoffs with relative ease, leading to his selection as the Florida Dairy Farmers Coach of the Year.

Bridgewater returned to the NFL after that championship season and signed with the Detroit Lions for the final weeks of the 2024 campaign. He played in a divisional round game in the 2024 playoffs during that brief stint. Bridgewater also logged four games of action in 2025 with the Buccaneers, good for his most since 2022. He attempted just 15 passes in a backup role behind Baker Mayfield.

While his coaching suspension will expire this summer, it is unclear whether Bridgewater intends to return to the sidelines at Northwestern. If he instead spends next season back on another NFL roster, the former first-round pick would embark on Year 13 in the league.