Teddy Bridgewater, Miami Northwestern reportedly under scrutiny by FHSAA for rules violation

The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) is investigating allegation that the Miami Northwestern football program has been using an ineligible player, according to a report from USA Today.

The team, which is coached by former NFL quarterback and Louisville star Teddy Bridgewater, is coming off an 8-2 regular season and is ranked No. 14 in the Sunshine State, per the On3 Composite Rankings.

According to the reporting, USA Today Network obtained a transcript of the unnamed player, who had enrolled in the fall of 2020 and this fall semester would be his ninth semester. That would would make the student-athlete ineligible, per FHSAA Bylaw 9.5.1.

Last month, Bridgewater posted on his personal Facebook page about his frustrations with coaching at the high school level, seemingly relating to other programs being involved in these types of issues.

“I didn’t walk away from millions to be associated with this high school drama,” wrote Bridgewater. “I did it to better the future of the sport in south Florida… I’ve been to the highest level and this level is peanuts to an elephant when you’ve reached the top. So you don’t get caught up in the small stuff when you’ve seen the top. However, this is the highest level for many so that’s why you have the telling and ‘whatever it takes to win’ mentality going on. But that’s the problem, not many people have won at the life God has given them so they live through the kids and make it about them and not their kids. Now we have grown men telling on KIDS!! Jeopardizing their future and their team’s future. As a man, what do you get out of that?? I pray MNW stays in the clear from all that’s going on because like I tell my coaches, I played 10 years in the league and never made any headlines and I’ll be damned if I let MNW have me caught up in some mess. I know it’s people waiting on the day it happens.”

Other Florida high school football teams have had similar issues

If the investigation finds that the ineligible player participated for Northwestern this season, the Bulls would be forced to vacate all of those wins and would likely see their season ended.

They are coming off a 69-0 region quarterfinal win over Barron Collier last week and are set to face Naples Lely this weekend in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs.

It would also mark them as the second Miami-area team to come under fire for such violations.

Rival Miami Central was retroactively forced to forfeit nine games this season because of the use of an ineligible player, the FHSAA ruled earlier this month.

The Rockets, who were at one time ranked as the state’s No. 4 overall team, were 8-1 on the season and one of the favorites to compete for a Class 3A state championship. All of their wins were stripped away though. And as result, they missed the playoffs entirely.

Similarly to the allegations at Northwestern, a Miami Central student-athlete entered the 9th grade in 2020-2021 and entered the 2024-2025 school year as a fifth-year student, yet was allowed to play in nine games and violated the same bylaw.

The forfeitures are not an issue limited to Florida, though. In the past month, schools in Louisiana, Texas, Florida and Maryland — including multiple state title contenders — have been forced to vacate wins due to similar investigations into ineligible players.