Florida governor signs law inspired by Detroit Lions backup QB who helped players

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a new bill into law that protects middle and high school head coaches, which is named in honor of Detroit Lions quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

Senate Bill 58, also called the “Teddy Bridgewater Act,” lets Florida coaches use their own money to help players with costs like transportation, meals, and recovery services. Each team’s coaches can spend up to $15,000 per year on these expenses.

Coaches cannot use this money for recruiting, and they must report all spending to the Florida High School Athletic Association.

After the 2023 NFL season, his first with Detroit, Bridgewater retired at age 33 and returned to Miami Northwestern, his high school, to become head football coach. He led the team to a Class 3A state championship, then rejoined the Lions as Jared Goff’s backup before the 2024 postseason.

Last year, Bridgewater posted on Facebook that the school suspended him for giving financial help to his players. He said he had reported these actions to the school. The post has since been deleted.

Earlier, Bridgewater wrote that in his first season as coach, he paid for rides, meals, and treatment for his players. In his second and final season, he asked others for financial help to cover these costs.

“He got into this situation where he was paying for meals and rides for some of his players who were underprivileged, and he was using his personal funds to do this,” DeSantis said at a news conference before signing the bill. “These were people that he was mentoring and that somehow got him suspended because of the way the rules were written.”

DeSantis also introduced Senate Bill 538, which lets coaches get extra pay from money raised by boosters and other support groups. The bill also allows school districts to classify coaches as administrative staff, enabling them to negotiate salaries up to the highest-paid school administrator in the district.

After leaving his job as head football coach at Miami Northwestern, Bridgewater signed a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season, serving as the backup to Baker Mayfield.

Bridgewater returned to Detroit in March, signing a one-year deal for a second stint with the Lions as Goff’s backup.

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