Last year, Teddy Bridgewater returned to Miami Northwestern and coached his alma mater to a state championship, its first since 2019.
This year, things have turned and Bridgewater has reportedly been suspended by the school for the season due to allegations of providing players with impermissible benefits, a suspension that has been approved by The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA).
It’s the exclamation mark on a situation that first came to light in July when Bridgewater posted about it on his Facebook account, portion of which is below.
The suspension came from MNW and it’s impossible to suspend someone who doesn’t work for you. So if im suspended from MNW im free to go to another school of my choice but IM NOT GOING ANYWHERE.
And if it comes down to it, I will volunteer from the bleachers like I used to in 2018 and 2019 when no one had a problem.
The suspension was due to Bridgewater helping his players out, some of which come from poor homes and needed assistance with transportation and meals.
The first-year high school head football coach had asked for donations to help the program and its players out, including covering costs that he paid for such as $700 per week for Uber rides, $1,300 per week for athletic recovery services and $2,200 per week for pre-game meals during the season.
He also claimed that he spent $14,000 for a four-night preseason training camp and $9,500 on Northwestern-branded clothing
This all caught the attention of the FHSAA, and so they launched an investigation into Bridgewater and the program, after which the FHSAA hit the school with a $2,500 penalty fine, of which $2,250 can be returned to Miami Northwestern if there are no other violations.
Bridgewater claims that he’s a volunteer with the program and more recently, he informed his players that he was returning to the NFL as a backup QB for the Tampa Bay Bucs.