Central College defensive lineman Nick Bandy is among a record 197 college and university players nominated for the Allstate American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team.®

Bandy is among the nominees in a combined category of NCAA FCS, Division II and Division III players as well as NAIA athletes. The team was established in 1992 to recognize extra efforts by college football players who find ways to serve others in need. The final 22-member team is selected, based on exceptional leadership on and off the football field, by a voting panel of former Allstate AFCA Good Works Team members, current and former head coaches, and journalists.

Central has had five players chosen for the elite squad, starting with Marc Poortinga in 1997 followed by Stephen Barnes in 2005, Cory Nikkel in 2011, Jake Wassenaar in 2015 and Cameron Bannister in 2024.

Bandy has helped the Dutch football team with the National Marrow Donor Program recruitment drives on campus. During his time in Pella, he also sorted and loaded children’s books at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, assisted the Garden Club at Knoxville Hospital and Clinics with outdoor landscaping and beautification and volunteered at the Dutch football team’s tulip time food stand.

Bandy was named a third team All-Region selection by D3football.com in 2024 as well as a first-team all-conference pick. He has earned the American Rivers Academic All-Conference award twice and was an Academic All-District honoree by the College Sports Communicators in 2024. He had 7.5 sacks and 26 total tackles. He forced one fumble and hurried the quarterback eight times.