Inside The Panthers

Class of 2026 Kicker Commits to Pitt

The Pitt Panthers will now have three kickers on the roster heading into the 2026 season.
Mitchell Corcoran|
Oct 18, 2025; Syracuse, New York, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi looks on prior to the game against the Syracuse Orange at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images
Oct 18, 2025; Syracuse, New York, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi looks on prior to the game against the Syracuse Orange at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

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Pittsburgh Panthers

PITTSBURGH — Powder Springs, Ga. Class of 2026 kicker Carter Genchi has committed to the Pitt Panthers, he announced on Jan. 30.

Genchi received an offer from Pitt on Jan. 23. shortly after he visited the program.

As a senior, Genchi went 51-for-55 on PATs and 10-for-13 on field goal tries, with a long of 53 yards. He also had 69 kickoffs, 64 of which went for a touchback.

In his high school career, Genchi went 85-for-93 on PATs, 20-for-27 on field goal attempts with 125 kickoffs and 115 touchbacks, according to MaxPreps

Genchi was also the punter at Hillgrove High School, where he had 69-career punts, averaging 35.2 yards per kick, a long of 59 yards and had nine touchbacks.

Genchi was named first-team All-Region as both a kicker and a punter.

Pitt's New Special Teams Units

Genchi will now be the third kicker on Pitt's roster, none of whom were on the roster in 2025.

Pitt went into last season with James London, Sam Carpenter and walk-on Trey Butkowski. Butkowski defied the odds and wound up winning the job, and proceeded to have perhaps the greatest season a Pitt kicker has had as a true freshman. Burkowski went 20-for-23 on field goals with a long of 47 yards and was near-perfect, 43-for-44 on PATs.

Butkowski would then transfer to Michigan in December, and Carpenter transferred to Sam Houston. London stepped away from the team when Butkowski was named the starter in August, leaving the Panthers without any kickers.

Pittsburgh Panthers place kicker Trey Butkowski
Sep 13, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers place kicker Trey Butkowski (93) kicks a field goal during the second quarter against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Pitt then added two FCS kickers through the portal, Samuel Hunsaker from Northern Arizona and Antonio Chadha from Western Illinois.

Hunsaker and Chadha had similar numbers in 2025. Hunsaker made 68.2% of his field goal attempts and 98.4% of PATs, while Chadha made 68.4% of his field goal tries and 97.9% of PATs.

Some other changes include the hiring of new special teams coordinator Mike Priefer, the departures of long snappers Nilay Upadhyayula, Nico Crawford and Henry Searcy and the exits of punters Caleb Junko and Cade Dowd.

Upadhyayula and Junko ran out of eligibility, Crawford transferred to Michigan, Searcy transferred to Charlotte and Dowd is currently in the transfer portal.

In return, Pitt added long snappers Justin Schmidt from Purdue and incoming freshman Alex Rudloph, and punter Gabe Russo from Idaho State.

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Mitchell Corcoran
MITCHELL CORCORAN

Mitch is a passionate storyteller and college sports fanatic. Growing up 70 miles away in Johnstown, Pa., Mitch has followed Pittsburgh sports all his life. Mitch started his sports journalism career as an undergraduate at Penn State, covering several programs for the student-run blog, Onward State. He previously worked for NBC Sports, The Tribune-Democrat and the Altoona Mirror as a freelancer. Give him a follow on X @MitchCorc18.

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