Teddy Bridgewater, ex-Dolphins QB and Miami native, named coach of high school alma mater in South Florida
Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who recently retired from the NFL, has been named head coach at Miami Northwestern High School, his alma mater.
Bridgewater, a hometown hero and a pillar in Miami’s inner city, had long been expected to coach at his alma mater, which had a head-coaching vacancy.
The 10-year veteran, who starred at Miami Northwestern, signed a one-year contract with the Lions last offseason to be Jared Goff’s backup.
The 31-year-old Bridgewater is 33-32 in 65 career starts in the NFL, completing 66 percent of his passes for 15,120 yards and 75 touchdowns with 47 interceptions. He has also rushed for 844 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Former Northwestern coach Max Edwards, who coached at Northwestern for eight seasons and won three state championships, had previously called Bridgewater the head coach in waiting for the Bulls once he retires. Bridgewater has made numerous appearances at Northwestern practices and games over the years. A video of him on his high school alma mater’s sideline in September of 2022 went viral as Bridgewater drew up a play on a whiteboard for his Bulls to run in a game.
Bridgewater is a success story from Liberty City and Opa-Locka in Miami-Dade County. He has been giving back to the community since he was a first-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings in 2014.
Bridgewater has seen ups and downs in his professional career. He made a Pro Bowl and playoff appearance in 2015. Then, a torn ACL in his left knee cost him the 2016 season and most of 2017. He reemerged as a backup for the New Orleans Saints. When he replaced an injured Drew Brees in 2019, he went 5-0. The past three years, Bridgewater was the full-time starter for the Carolina Panthers in 2020 and Denver Broncos in 2021 before joining the Lions.
Bridgewater joined his hometown Miami Dolphins in 2022 as Tua Tagovailoa’s backup.
A class of 2011 recruit, Bridgewater had the idea of staying home, when he was committed to the University of Miami. That 2010 fall, Randy Shannon was fired as coach of the Hurricanes, and in the transition from Shannon to Al Golden, Bridgewater flipped to Louisville and coach Charlie Strong.
