Special attention helps restore Pitt punter Caleb Junko's confidence

By the time the miserable 2023 season ended, Caleb Junko had lost confidence in himself after finishing 11th among ACC punters with an average of 42.3 yards.

Pitt was struggling, and Junko believed he partially was to blame.

“I didn’t really do my job last season in giving the defense good field position and bailing the offense out,” he said.

An offense that finished last in the 14-team ACC in time of possession (an average of 27 minutes, 37 seconds per game) called on him 62 times, tied for fourth-most in the conference.

At the end of the season, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi stepped in and hired a bevy of new coaches on offense, including Jacob Bronowski, a 30-year-old who had coached special teams for the previous six seasons at four schools, including Robert Morris (2018-19).

“He brought us in for a reason,” Bronowski said. “He knew the energy we all carried and how we go about business. I’ve always been a pretty hyper person, and I always loved to compete. I get to coach a game that I love and influence people’s lives. What isn’t there to be excited about?”

Suddenly, Junko was a changed man.

“When Coach Bro came in here,” he said, “we kind of changed up my form a little bit, stayed more compact, shorter steps, lowering my drop a little bit more, getting more explosiveness through the ball. Overall confidence in myself, he helped re-instill that. I think after last season, I kind of lost that and even during the season, I didn’t have too much confidence in myself. I think that’s one of the biggest things as a punter and a kicker: You need to have confidence in yourself.

“This offseason has been hammering down, knowing how good I am, knowing that I can be great and forcing that on myself.”

Pitt fans might remember Bronowski as the coach who earlier this year smashed a trash can off his head, trying to get his squad hyped for the spring game. But Bronowski, who coaches specialists and tight ends, means so much more to the players under his command.

“He lit a fire under everyone’s butt to show that special teams is one of the most important aspects of football,” Junko said. “Now, everyone’s taking it seriously. We kind of started over with everything, and now everyone is taking it seriously. I feel more confident and comfortable than I ever have.”

Kicker Ben Sauls now is talking matter-of-factly about backing up to 62 or 63 yards and banging field goals through the uprights.

“Our personalities go together. He’s never satisfied,” Sauls said. “It might be the greatest day ever for everybody, but it can always be better. I have the same mindset that I take into my field-goal kicking and how I go about my life in and outside of football. You can tell how passionate he is about special teams, how ambitious he is with football as a whole. Good is not good enough.”

Narduzzi credits Bronowski for helping restore Junko’s confidence.

“His mind’s right,” the coach said of his punter. “He’s had a phenomenal camp.”

Bronowski equates kicking with golf.

“If you go out there and you’re thinking about 100 different things, good luck with actually doing the one thing you’re supposed to do,” he said.

His mind clear and confidence restored, Junko traveled to Orlando, Fla., this offseason and won a national punting competition.

“It was really cool competing against some of the biggest legs in college and showing I can match them and beat them,” he said.

With a strong leg and good speed behind it, Junko has topped out with a 5.33-second hang time and a long punt of 60 yards.

“When he came back, he said, ‘OK, I can be special at this,’ ” Bronowski said.

Junko, a three-year starter in soccer at Hudson High School in Akron, Ohio, didn’t join the football team until his senior year. He came to Pitt as a walk-on, but Narduzzi awarded him a scholarship last year.

“He’s just consistent,” Narduzzi said. “His stance is different. His drop has been consistent. It’s all in the drop, how you drop that ball.”

Said Bronowski: “From the time I got here, he’s had a great stretch. He was a very raw punter coming in. This offseason was all about ‘OK, let’s get some conviction behind what you’re doing.’ ”

Narduzzi said Junko was hitting pooch punts inside the 10-yard line Wednesday.

“He’s dropping them in there. He could be a weapon.”