It’s been over a month since Miami Northwestern suspended the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ QB Teddy Bridgewater from coaching for the 2025 season. Bridgewater is prohibited from coaching at MNW after the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) found that he had provided rewards to athletes. While playing in the NFL is a dream for many, Bridgewater’s passion clearly lies in high school coaching, and his latest announcement makes it clear he’s not done pursuing that path just yet.

Bridgewater is adamant that he still wants to make a difference in the South Florida football community.

”Since I am only suspended from coaching at MNW for this season I technically can volunteer at any other school so I want to help out it another South Florida school for the remainder of the season and throughout the players I feel like my brain has so many ideas to share with coaches on the high school level plus I miss coaching and developing young athletes,” Bridgewater wrote on social media.

The Bucs’ QB commitment to coaching players does not waver in the face of scandal. The 32-year-old was suspended after he disclosed that he paid personally each week $700 for Uber rides to ensure his players got home safely, $14,000 for a training camp during the off-season, and thousands of dollars for meals, recovery sessions, and team apparel. Northwestern had suspended him in early July after that came to light.

The FHSAA fined the school $2,500, but $2,250 can be repaid if no other violation is committed. Bridgewater, meanwhile, defended his actions, stating that all were done out of protection and concern, and none of it was due to misbehavior.

“When I decided to coach, those players became my sons,” he explained several months ago. “Miami Northwestern’s in a tough neighborhood, and sometimes things can happen when the kids are walking home and things like that. So I was just trying to protect them and give them a ride home instead of having to take those dangerous walks.”

Bridgewater’s sole year at Northwestern was a success. He led the Northwestern high school to the state championship last year. After his first retirement from the NFL in early 2024 to work on coaching full-time at the high school level, the veteran QB came back into the league when he was signed by the Detroit Lions for their postseason push. He played sparingly in the divisional round, his first football activity in almost a year before he joined Tampa Bay in August of 2025.

Bridgewater’s coaching passion amid joining the Tampa Bay

Even though Bridgewater is still on the NFL trajectory with the Buccaneers as a backup to Baker Mayfield, his heart is clearly still on the sidelines as a coach. In a recent sit-down interview, Bridgewater admitted that being kept off the sidelines has been “very upsetting.”

The Bucs are the seventh NFL franchise Bridgewater has played for in a 12-year career in which he has donned Vikings, Saints, Panthers, Broncos, Dolphins, Lions, and now Tampa Bay area uniforms. To earn over $65 million in career salary, though, the veteran maintains his driving force is to lead young players.

Teddy indicated he was set to coach at the high school level for the season, and then rejoin the NFL later in the year as an emergency or backup man, a ploy that worked well for him in 2024. But with the suspension now keeping him from traveling to Northwestern, he’s now seeking alternative means to give back to the community that raised him and share his expertise.

As for the Buccaneers, HC Tedd Bowles believes Bridgewater “can help Baker out.”

But do you think the NFL job and high school coaching can go side by side for the veteran QB if he lands a coaching job?