Florida signs ‘Teddy Bridgewater Act’ into law, allowing HS coaches to pay for certain things

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the “Teddy Bridgewater Act” into law on Friday, meaning high school coaches in the state will now be able to use their own money to help their players with expenses such as food, transportation, physical therapy and rehabilitation services.

Also Friday, DeSantis signed a separate bill that could help raise high school coaches’ salaries across the state.

The Bridgewater Act is named for the Florida native and longtime NFL quarterback who coached his alma mater, Miami Northwestern High, to a state championship in 2024. But he was suspended for the 2025 season after revealing that he personally paid for meals, ride-share services and treatments for some players.

“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 — which made its way through committees and then the Florida House and Senate, with every vote unanimous in support. “These were people that he was mentoring and that somehow got him suspended because of the way the rules were written.”

There will be strict rules regarding how — and how much — coaches can spend. It would only apply to a team’s head coach, cannot be used in recruiting, must be reported in full to a state agency, and is capped at $15,000 per team per year.

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Bridgewater, in a social media post that led to his suspension last year, told supporters of the powerhouse high school program that he spent up to $6,000 some weeks for meals, rides and other services for the team, including making sure the field is lined properly — in addition to $23,500 for the team’s training camp costs and apparel.

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“Look, there’s some possible downsides if you don’t have a structure like we have,” DeSantis said. “But I also think the previous rules didn’t allow for the upside (for) a coach that really wants to make a difference in folks’ lives.”

The second bill that becomes law on July 1 addresses coaching salaries. State officials cited studies that show head football coaches in talent-rich Broward Country received, on average, a stipend of $3,038. In neighboring states, including Georgia, the studies showed coaches can earn more than $100,000.

But now, school boards can use “voluntary donations and revenues generated by authorized booster clubs or associations” to pay coaches to a figure that “may not exceed the compensation of the highest paid administrator in the district.”

“Today is more than the signing of a bill. Today is validation for thousands of coaches who spent years feeling ignored, undervalued and pushed to the side within our public schools,” said Andrew Ramjit, executive director of the Florida Coaches Coalition.

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