High school state championship-winning coach and NFL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is coming out of retirement. Bridgewater will be re-signing with the Detroit Lions ahead of the team’s playoff push.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell spoke on Bridgewater’s return to Detroit.
“I’ve been in contact with Teddy for a while. It was something that was always potentially a possibility,” Campbell told reporters. “We all knew what Teddy’s been doing down there, and giving back to his community. They won a championship down there, so his coaching worked out pretty dang good
But just to be able to add someone back here that’s got experience…he’s staying in shape, he’s throwing. Just getting him worked back in here a little bit. It just brings a level of professionalism. Veteran presence, somebody that’s great for our team. He’s great for the position. Doesn’t mean we’re disappointed in [Hendon] Hooker, that’s not what this means. It just means this gives us somebody that’s played a lot in the NFL, we’re getting ready for the playoffs. So it’ll be good to get him back in the fold with us.”
Bridgewater spent one season with the Detroit Lions before retiring, but he will return for his second stint with the team.
Bridgewater, 32, announced his retirement from football at the end of the 2023 season. Although he retired from the NFL, Bridgewater chose to embark on his coaching career at Miami (Florida) Northwestern High School.
However, Bridgewater’s return to the NFLdoesn’t mean he is putting down his clipboard as a coach.
“That’s the plan,” Bridgewater told NFL Network. “My team knows that’s the plan. We wanted to win a state championship and then coach goes back to the league, see what happens, and then come back in February in the offseason, continue coaching high school football. We’ll see how it plays out.”
