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+--- Thread: Florida Senate passes 'Teddy Bridgewater Act,' allowing coaches to use personal funds (/showthread.php?tid=2305)
Florida Senate passes 'Teddy Bridgewater Act,' allowing coaches to use personal funds - Ladypanther - 02-21-2026
https://www.nfl.com/news/florida-senate-passes-teddy-bridgewater-act-allowing-coaches-to-use-personal-funds-to-assist-players
No longer the head coach of his Northwestern (Miami) alma mater, Teddy Bridgewater continues to make an impact for high school football in the state of Florida.
The Florida Senate on Thursday unanimously passed CS/CS/SB 178, known as the "Teddy Bridgewater Act," which authorizes K-12 head coaches to use $15,000 in personal funds per year to support student-athlete welfare.
The bill was immediately certified by a 38-0 vote.
Officially, the act requires, "the Florida High School Athletic Association to adopt bylaws authorizing a head coach to support the welfare of a student by using personal funds to provide certain effects to the student; requiring the head coach to report such use of personal funds to the association; providing that such use of personal funds is presumed not to be an impermissible benefit, etc."
Bridgewater, once a star quarterback at Northwestern, returned to his alma mater and promptly coached the Bulls to a Class 3A state title in 2024. However, after admitting to covering food and transportation costs for his players while seeking financial aid from supporters, he was suspended from coaching the team in 2025 for providing prohibited benefits.
Previously ruled as delivering impermissible benefits, Bridgewater's actions led to a bill proposed by Sen. Shervin Jones that will now move to the House of Representatives for a second chamber vote and, should it pass, be sent to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to potentially be signed into a law.
Good for them. Teddy was punished because he cared about his players.