The Florida Senate has unanimously passed legislation widely referred to as the Teddy Bridgewater Act, a bill that would reshape how high school coaches in the state can support their players.
The proposal comes after former Teddy Bridgewater was suspended following his decision to personally cover expenses for players at his alma mater, Miami Northwestern Senior High School. Those payments, which included food, transportation and recovery services, were ruled impermissible under guidelines enforced by the Florida High School Athletic Association.
The Teddy Bridgewater Act would change longstanding rules on impermissible benefits for high school coaches. Under the legislation, public school head coaches would be permitted to use up to $15,000 of their own personal funds per team, per year, provided the contributions are made in good faith and properly reported.
The bill was introduced by Shervin Jones and has a companion measure in the House filed by Chip LaMarca.
“This legislation ensures that no student athlete goes without basic needs simply because resources are limited,” LaMarca said in a statement. “Our coaches often serve as mentors and lifelines for our youth. This bill gives them the flexibility to support student well being while keeping strong accountability measures in place.”
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Jones said the measure is designed to balance compassion with structure and to provide clarity for coaches while maintaining appropriate oversight.
After the Senate vote, the former Louisville Cardinals and NFL star took to Instagram Stories to react. Sharing coverage of the bill’s passage, he wrote, “Not the Teddy B act” followed by two fire emojis, a playful but pointed acknowledgment of the legislation tied to his suspension.
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The measure now heads to the Florida House of Representatives. If approved there, it would move to Ron DeSantis for final consideration before becoming law.
