The sight of Chris Andrews running the first-team offense for the Morgan State football team was a surprising development considering Tuesday marked just his third practice of the preseason since transferring from Wagner.
But one person who was not stunned was Andrews' former coach.
"I figured as much," Seahawks coach Jason Houghtaling said Thursday when informed of Andrews' rise up the Bears depth chart.
When asked to elaborate on his previous comment, Houghtaling replied, "He's just a real competitive kid. He's a really good athlete who makes a lot of plays with the ball. If he's on from a throwing standpoint, he can be a really good player."
Houghtaling said the 6-foot-1, 225-pound Andrews is a tough quarterback who was instrumental in Wagner sharing the Northeast Conference championship with Sacred Heart in 2014.
"He ran a power play for a touchdown where he basically ran through a linebacker," Houghtaling recalled. "If you look at the Bryant game which we won in the last game of the year in 2014, he led us down the field on a two-minute drive to win the game, and he took a couple huge shots in that game and got back up and played. I just think he's a really tough kid who's a great athlete and certainly can make plays with his feet.
"Some things he struggled with once in a while were throwing the football a little bit. He had some issues in 2015 where his completion percentage was low. But there are a number of reasons for that. At the end of the day, I think the kid is a really good player and a great kid and just a tough football player."
Andrews, a graduate student pursuing an MBA at Morgan State, had another year of eligibility left that he could have used with the Seahawks. But Houghtaling said the return of junior and 2015 starter Alex Thomson, the transfer of junior A.J. Long from Syracuse and a plan to employ Andrews as a wide receiver and running back persuaded Andrews to go elsewhere.
Despite trying to absorb a new playbook and working with new teammates and coaches, Andrews understands the significance of the opportunity before him.
"I feel like I need to come in and play and make sure that I prove to them that I can be the starter for Morgan State," he said. "I can come out and win the job."