Pitt Kicker Departs From Program

James London arrived to the Pitt Panthers football team over the winter as the heir apparent to long-time starting kicker Ben Sauls, but his time as a Panther ended up being a short one.

London - a 6-foot kicker from Miami, Fla. - is no longer with the program, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi announced Thursday before practice. His departure comes on the heels of walk-on true freshman kicker Trey Butkowski being announced as the winner of the kicking competition this offseason.

"Trey Butkowski is our starting kicker," Narduzzi said. "He's had the best numbers coming through camp. He's a young guy we brought in, a true freshman, we're excited about this year. So, he will be the starting kicker coming into the opener.

"... James London is no longer with our football program, I'll leave it at that."

Butkowski, a fellow Florida native, arrived in June, so he had to catch up to London and Sam Carpenter. And throughout the nearly 20 days of practice this month, he did. Narduzzi said that Butkowski was the best kicker, by the numbers, all camp.

London's departure wasn't confirmed to be because he lost the competition, but the timing points to a potential reason for it.

London spent the last two seasons at Murray State. He had a strong campaign in 2024, connecting on 14-of-19 field goal attempts with a long of 54 yards.

His 65 points led the Racers, and his 14 field goals and 73.7% clip paced the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). He finished his time at Murray with 15 made field goals in 21 attempts and converted all 25 point-after attempts.

“It was great," London said of his time at Murray State after arriving in Pittsburgh. "I loved it, to be honest. [Murray State] was the only school that gave me a real opportunity. So I just took full advantage of it and it brought me here, so, you know, I’m just thankful, know what I mean?

Now, he will likely look for the next opportunity while Pitt will move forward with Butkowski as the starter and Carpenter as the backup.

Sauls left big shoes to fill, after connecting on 21-of-24 field goal attempts and all 44 point-after attempts as a senior. He became known for his big leg, tying the longest field goal in program history against Cal (58 yards) and his consistency (a program record 15 straight kicks between 2023 and 2024). It may be unfair to expect the same from Butkowski, but he will be thrown into the fire early to begin his college career.

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