Former NFL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater won the Florida high school state championship on Saturday in his first season as a head coach.
As coach of his alma mater, Miami Northwestern, Bridgewater’s team won 41-0 over previously undefeated Jacksonville Raines in the Class 3A state championship game at Pitbull Stadium in Miami (on the Florida International campus).
The Bulls finished their season 12-2 and defeated opponents in five playoff games by a combined score of 262-12 en route to their first state title since 2019. Bridgewater’s team scored at least 40 points in each of those games and won four. them by a shutout.
Miami Northwestern went 4-6 last season. Starting at 2-2 this season, the Bulls won ten consecutive games.
“Those kids deserve it,” Bridgewater said, via USA Today. “Those kids have stayed with us since February, they trusted the process.”
“We just told them, ‘You guys stick together. You can walk this walk together for the rest of your lives if you win this game,'” he added. ‘They won. Ten years from now, when we practice on Thanksgiving, they’ll come back and reminisce.”
Bridgewater, 32, retired in February and finished 10 years in the NFL as a backup QB for the Detroit Lions. During his nine seasons, he also played for the Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins.
In his NFL career, Bridgewater threw for 15,120 yards and 75 touchdowns in 79 games (65 starts). He was the Vikings’ first-round selection (No. 32 overall) out of Louisville.
Teddy Bridgewater hasn’t gotten enough credit for what he showed on the Broncos touchdown drive at the end of the first half.
The 5 rolls to seal it were money. pic.twitter.com/Qa1MOPe942
— Joe Rowles (@JoRo_NFL) September 15, 2021
According to the Palm Beach Post, he immediately started working with Miami Northwestern and worked with players throughout the winter leading up to spring training. When fall practices started, Bridgewater had the players stay at school for six days so they could get to know each other.
“If you’re working with 14-year-olds, 15-year-olds, 16-year-olds, 17-year-olds, coming from the NFL, they’re not going to get it on the first try,” Bridgewater said. the Palm Beach Post. “They may not succeed on the second try. They may not succeed on the third, fourth or fifth attempt either. But if you stay patient with them, you really teach them the way to everything, the rest will take care of itself.”
Last month Bridgewater said: “I can’t wait to get back to the NFLafter a state title run, noting how many quarterback jobs were available. After Miami Northwestern’s win, he made no comment on what his future plans might be.
