Teddy Bridgewater’s ridiculous suspension shows Florida HS football has lost the plot

After a magical season leading his alma mater Miami Northwestern to a 3A state football title, veteran NFL QB Teddy Bridgewater is in hot water with the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA). Miami Northwestern suspended Bridgewater on Monday for “giving impermissible benefits” to his players after an investigation was opened into Bridgewater and Miami Northwestern by the FHSAA. The investigation stems from a post Bridgewater made to Facebook asking parents and donors for financial support.

The investigation cites a few things as “impermissible benefits” that Bridgewater gave to his players: spending $700 a week on Uber rides for his players to and from practices and events, feeding his players before games, getting them pride sets to wear, recovery trucks for the players after games and recently he spent $14,000 for a preseason training camp where Bridgewater says the players slept in the basketball gym. Bridgewater said in his post announcing his suspension that he self-reported all the funds to Miami Northwestern, but is arguing that he can’t be suspended because he’s…not an employee with Miami Northwestern. It’s important to remember through all of this that Teddy Bridgewater is a volunteer, and in the state of Florida you don’t have to be an employee with the school to coach at the school.

So, we’re suspending coaches for using their own money to feed their players before games and to get them Ubers to and from practice? Ok man, you got it.

This is the most absurd thing I’ve read all week, and for the FHSAA this is just par for the course. Last year, private school The First Academy in Orlando got a two-year postseason ban, were fined $36,000 and had to give up eight wins because four players received…free lunch and a free Uber ride.

Good job, FHSAA! You really showed them! Nobody can give these children Uber rides without having to pay!

Let’s be real, the reason the FHSAA is investigating Bridgewater and Miami Northwestern is because they won, and now that’s a problem. A public school in Miami won the state title with a former player using his money to help fund the program. We’ve lost the plot when it comes to high school sports, and now Miami Northwestern has to pay because of it. High school sports is about giving the children the best chance to succeed at school and sports, not having to worry about how they’re getting home from school, but now we’re turning it into stroking the egos of adults. Meanwhile, because IMG Academy plays a national schedule and doesn’t denote themselves as under the FHSAA, they can be backed by private equity funding (BPTA bought IMG Academy in 2023 for $1.5 billion). It’s important to note that the state of Florida pays football coaches in the state a yearly stipend between $3,000 and $6,000, putting them dead last in the US. It’s an unsustainable system, a broken system that’s hurting the players as well as coaches.

The FHSAA creates a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation for public school football programs. If you can’t use your own money to help the football program, you’re relying on boosters and funds that not every parent has readily available and you fall behind the private schools and programs that can afford to spend big money on their programs. Now that it’s a black head coach at a black high school in a largely Black (according to US News 82.4% of the population at Miami Northwestern is Black) area of the city that’s largely black using his own money to help his kids, the problem arises. The FHSAA isn’t built to help provide resources to inner city schools and their athletic programs, because it was never designed that way. It’s an unfortunate cycle that is a symptom of the larger issue: the commoditization of youth and high school sports. Making everything about a dollar and maximizing profit, boosting numbers that’ll make you look good on social media posts instead of developing the kids who put their hopes and dreams into the school’s hands. If money is going to run everything within high school sports, we shouldn’t punish a coach or team for using their own funds to make sure a player gets home safe in an Uber.

After Bridgewater announced his suspension on social media, many people came to his support, from former NFL players to pundits around the country.

I don’t know what the future holds for Bridgewater’s standing as head coach, but I do know that this could be the catalyst for a lot of change in the state when it comes to high school sports.