Pitt punter Caleb Junko aims to conclude college career on a high note this season

Caleb Junko would not be offended to learn that at times over the last few years on fourth down, when he’d be sent on the field to punt, some Pitt fans were crossing their fingers and hoping for a good result.

Junko, primed to serve as the Panthers’ full-time punter for the third straight season, acknowledges he has lacked consistency over his collegiate career.

However, Junko, a redshirt senior who originally joined the Panthers as a walk-on in 2021, is confident any unpredictability with his punting is in the rearview mirror.

“It has been an issue before in the past, like, ‘Caleb’s going out there, who knows what’s going to happen?’ ” Junko said. “I’m glad that I’ve proven myself and worked hard enough to be in a position where that’s not an issue anymore.”

Junko has indeed had his ups and downs, as recently as last season.

He was superb Oct. 12 against Cal, averaging 50.7 yards on six punts, with a long of 57. He pinned the Bears inside the 20-yard line twice.

However, a few weeks later, when then-undefeated and 18th-ranked Pitt traveled to No. 20 SMU, Junko struggled mightily, averaging only 31.2 yards.

His first punt of the game went 21 yards, followed by a 28-yarder and a 26-yarder in the first half of an eventual 48-25 defeat.

For the season, he averaged 43.7 yards on 58 punts.

“It’s one of those things where I can’t have a great game and then a bad game,” Junko said. “I’ve got to keep building on days and keep having consistency.”

Junko made a concerted effort in the offseason to be as consistent as possible in 2025.

That involved studying past punts, particularly short ones, and diagnosing what went wrong in the film room.

Mostly, Junko found that issues were related to his footwork.

“If my steps are too long, that drop gets a bit too far outside me and could tile the drop a little bit and have bad contact with my foot,” he said. “If I just stay compact, keep my steps within 3 yards, then the outcome is pretty nice.”

So far during camp, corrections have been visible.

Coach Pat Narduzzi has been complimentary of Junko’s punting distance, accuracy and hang time, and Junko recently relayed some scrimmage highlights to reporters.

Per Junko, his longest punt during the team’s scrimmage Saturday was 59 yards, with a hang time of 5.15 seconds.

On the day, he averaged about 4.9 seconds of hang time.

Overall, Narduzzi is pleased with the state of Pitt’s punting operation, which includes long snapper Nilay Upadhyayula.

“We’ve got lanes for the punter to punt out of, the punter’s got confidence — you just feel good about what you’ve got,” Narduzzi said. “You’ve got answers for everything, whether (opposing teams) want to overload, not overload. I just like where we are in that phase of the game.

“When your punter’s putting the ball exactly where you want it, putting it on the sideline with 4-plus (seconds of) hang — he’s done that. He’s drilling the ball right now.”

Junko also singled out the work of Upadhyayula, a fellow redshirt senior.

A former three-year specialist at UConn, Upadhyayula transferred to Pitt in early 2024 and won the long-snapping gig.

Now, he and Junko are preparing for their second season together.

“Snapping’s unreal,” Junko said. “Nilay’s been doing a great job throwing back there super fast, so it gives me more time to take my time with steps and get the ball off. But as far as protection, it looks great. Everybody’s so dialed in with punt. It’s something that we worked on all summer in small-group stuff, and guys were taking it super seriously.

“That’s what wins games. If we can flip the field every time and everybody does their job on punt, that’ll set the defense up nicely. That’s going to lead to stops with the defense that we have.”

But in addition to offering the Panthers a boost, there is personal incentive to having as strong of a final collegiate season as possible: his NFL prospects.

Junko hopes to hear his name called in the 2026 NFL Draft.

“It’s my last year, and I’ve got to go out there and do my job every time and not make it any bigger or smaller than it is — just be consistent,” he said. “At the end of the day, if I can just flip the field 45 yards, 50 yards every time, then that’ll get me to the NFL.”