Transfer Kicker Sam Hunsaker's Unique Journey to Pitt

PITTSBURGH — Every player in college football has their own unique story of how they reached this point in their young careers, but Pitt Panthers transfer kicker Sam Hunskaer has an especially unique one.

He didn't take the traditional route of kicking throughout high school and attending camps throughout the summer. Rather, Hunsaker took quite a roundabout path.

Like many place kickers, Hunsaker spent most of his life as a soccer player. But that changed heading into his senior year when he decided to leave soccer in the past and pursue a new love in football.

"As a kicker, you got your one moment that's make or break for the team," Hunsaker said in his first press conference since joining Pitt on Feb. 20. "I love that. I've really grown to love that aspect of it."

Hunsaker's Soccer Career

In high school, Hunsaker played semi-pro soccer in Costa Rica as a sophomore and ater played in the Bundesliga, a professional soccer league in Germany, for his junior year.

"I wanted to go pro for soccer," Hunsaker said. "I didn't want to play college ball, so just going out there, it's a better opportunity if you have a professional goal. So, that's what drew me to playing in Germany."

But after playing soccer all of his life and for teams across the world, Hunsaker dropped it all in his senior year of high school.

While Hunsaker was back home in Arizona visiting family, he saw his now-former high school head coach, Ty Detmer.

Detmer, who won the 1990 Heisman Trophy at BYU before playing eight seasons as an NFL quarterback, told Hunsaker that he was seeking a kicker at American Leadership Academy — Queen Creek and asked if he was interested.

At that moment, Hunsaker's athletic future changed.

"I literally went out the next day and never looked back," he said. "I put my soccer dreams behind me and started kicking."

Hunsaker Kicks-Off Football Career

Sep 29, 2023; Phoenix, AZ, USA; American Leadership Academy Patriots kicker Samuel Hunsaker (28) kicks the ball at Mountain Pointe High School s football field in Phoenix on Sept. 29, 2023. | Diannie Chavez / USA TODAY NETWORK

In just his first and only year of high school football, Hunsaker was a near-perfect 11-for-12 on field goal attempts with a long of 50 yards and made all 42 PATs, according to MaxPreps.

Because Hunsaker began kicking so late in high school, he said he was only able to attend one Kohl's Professional Camp, a showcase event for kickers, punters and long snappers, where he was a late pickup, so not many people knew who he was.

"After the season, recruiting was slow, obviously, because I was new," Hunsaker said. "That recruiting aspect was challenging."

That was until he found his next home on the campus of Northern Arizona University.

Hunsaker joined the Lumberjacks as a walk-on third-string kicker, where he competed in the Big Sky conference at the FCS level. After seven games into his freshman year, Hunsaker was given his first in-game opportunity and went 2-for-2 on field goal attempts, with a long of 44, and made both PATs in the 30-26 win over Idaho State.

From there, it was Hunsaker's job to keep.

He finished his freshman year going 4-for-7 on field goals with one blocked, a long of 47 yards and 18-for-19 on PATs. The following season, the two kickers who where orginially ahead of Hunsaker on the depth chart left the program, and Hunsaker was the clear-cut starter.

Hunsaker went 11-for-15 on field goals with a long of 50 yards and 45-for-45 on PATs in 2025. He was also a semifinalist for the Fred Mitchell Award, which honors the top place kicker at the FCS, Division II, Division III, NAIA and NJCAA levels.

How Hunsaker Found Pitt

After two seasons at Northern Arizona and three seasons of kicking experience overall, Hunsaker decided to try out the transfer portal. Hunsaker eventually landed at Pitt on a scholarship, but this wasn't just by chance.

The game in which Hunsaker hit his career-long 50-yard field goal was against Incarnate Word, and said he connected with then-special teams coordinator Mike Priefer Jr., the current assistant special teams coach at Pitt and the son of new Panthers special teams coordinator Mike Priefer.

Hunsaker was also connected to Pitt through his personal kicking coach, Adam Tanalski, who has worked with former Pitt starting kickers Ben Sauls and Trey Butkowski in the past.

Hunsaker will have another opportunity to become a team's starting kicker once again in just his fourth season of kicking, but this time at the Power 4 level.

He will have to compete with transfer walk-on Antonio Chada and freshman walk-on Carter Genchi in the summer, but even with a new team and a new stadium known for giving kickers fits over the years, he's confident in his abilities.

"It's not going to affect me," he said after describing his experience with difficult kicking environments. "If you hit a true ball, it's money."

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