By Dana Finkler
Collegiate Staff Writer
When the GRCC football program was canceled, it came as a surprise to many.
Former defensive coordinator, Curtis Andrews was called into President Steven Enders’ office and he didn’t know what to expect.
His first thought was he was finally getting his opportunity to become the head coach of the football team.
That was not the case.
Andrews followed Ender down to the Ford Fieldhouse to break the news to the players and remaining coaching staff.
It wasn’t easy for him to do.
Later that night when he got home, he had to share the news with one of the Raiders biggest fans, his son Curtis Andrews III.
“As soon as I told him the news he began to cry,” Andrews said.
Now that the program is canceled, Andrews is in a crossroads with this career. Despite the cancelation, he is still employed by the college as the Fieldhouse coordinator and teaches two wellness classes.
Andrews has been a part of the program for 11 years. He attended GRCC and played football under former coach Fred Julian.
After his college days he came back to inquire about a coaching opportunity and ended up volunteering to be the linebacker coach.
Throughout his tenure, Andrews has been offered numerous coaching jobs at other colleges, but always wanted to stay at GRCC.
Since the cancelation, Andrews has been working with the players to find them new opportunities contacting other programs. On February 18 GRCC hosted a recruiting showcase for four-year colleges to evaluate the players.
This spring Andrews is working on a project to host various events at the Ford Fieldhouse to help inner city youth.
He still wants to coach again someday at the collegiate level, but for now he wants to work on various projects.
“I’m going to miss the new crop guys,” Andrews said. “It refreshed me every year. I’m going to miss that the most. You could see it in their faces how excited they were to play football here.”
