PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It's not the first position you go looking for when a Fall camp opens. Yet it was to replace Pitt's leading scorer from last year and on the final day of camp, head coach Pat Narduzzi announced a true freshman would be Pitt's next placekicker.
Florida native Trey Butkowski won the competition without a doubt according to Narduzzi. Butkowski beat out redshirt sophomore Sam Carpenter and Murray State transfer James London, who then quit the team after not winning the job. Butkowski earned the spot despite starting camp as the third-stringer.
"I told myself mentally, I have nothing to lose," Butkowski said. "Just go out there and swing my swing and the only thing that could happen is I stay where I am."
The freshman replaces Ben Sauls, who was a Sports Illustrated Second-Team All-American last year with the Panthers. Sauls made a school-record six field goals from beyond 50 yards in 2024 and is currently on the Steelers roster. It turns out the two already have a relationship.
They share the same kicking coach and Butkowski has known Sauls since he started kicking as a sophomore in high school and said Sauls often gives him tips. They talk often. Sauls is also a big reason Butkowski even came to Pitt.
A soccer player for 13 years, Butkowski got a little burned out. He told his dad he wanted to try football. His mom was against it, but since he wasn't going to get hit, he tried out for his high school football team near Orlando. He made the team and by the middle of his first season, became the starter. Butkowski would set a school record before he left, kicking a 58-yarder.
He's a walk-on at Pitt and said he knew he was capable of starting, and will do something his mentor Sauls didn't, kick as a freshman.
"I haven't experienced anything like college football yet, but I feel like I've played enough big games in high school and I've been put in enough pressure situations throughout camp to really be able to go out and execute," Butkowski said.
He's listed at 170 pounds and we'll see how the teenager handles the weight of a football team on him.
