Michigan kicker Trey Butkowski is giving Wolverine fans something to be excited about for the 2026 season. Butkowski recently posted a video of himself nailing a 72-yard field goal on social media. Even though it wasn't made in Ann Arbor at The Big House, it still far exceeds his long of 47 yards (against Boston College) in live action.
He was named a Lou Groza Award semifinalist last season at Pittsburgh after he made 19 of his 22 field goal attempts. Here's a look at Butkowski's impressive kick through the uprights.
#Michigan kicker Trey Butkowski makes a 72-yard field goal 👀 via his IG.
— Brice Marich (@BriceMarich) May 4, 2026
He converted 19-22 field goal tries with a long of 47 and was named a Lou Groza Award semifinalist last season at Pittsburgh. pic.twitter.com/vVZPuiDXMA
New Michigan kicker Trey Butkowski brings excitement to special teams
Butkowski transferred to Michigan from Pittsburgh after his first season in college football, following the departure of special teams coordinator Jacob Bronowski. He was a factor in each of Pitt's games, being in the top 20 in field goal percentage for the campaign.
It is also worth noting that the former Panthers placekicker accomplished this in spite of having to miss two games (against Notre Dame and Georgia Tech) due to an illness. In addition to his impressive stats and being placed in consideration for the Lou Groza Award, the walk-on was named to the Pro Football Focus All-Freshman Team and earned All-ACC Second Team honors.
Now, he has the chance to carry all of that upside over to Michigan, where he looks to start in 2026. He will be joined by former teammate and Pitt transfer Nico Crawford, who will take the field for the Wolverines at long snapper.
Michigan, on paper, has put together a specialists group to be contended with as UNLV transfer punter Cameron Brown also enters the mix.
Michigan's outlook for the 2026 season
The Wolverines enter the 2026 season with a very real chance to make the College Football Playoff, and they've got plenty of talent on the roster to do just that. But, they're going to face a gauntlet of a schedule.
In fact, one could even argue that it's among the toughest in the nation this season. Here's a look at the team's opponents.
Sept. 5: Western Michigan
Sept. 12: Oklahoma
Sept. 19: UTEP
Sept. 26: Iowa
Oct. 3: at Minnesota
Oct. 10: Open date
Oct. 17: Penn State (Homecoming)
Oct. 24: Indiana
Oct. 31: at Rutgers
Nov. 7: Michigan State
Nov. 14: at Oregon
Nov. 21: UCLA
Nov. 28: at Ohio State
Brad Crawford of CBS Sports ranked this the fourth-most difficult schedule in the nation.
"There's nothing forgiving about what Kyle Whittingham will face in his first season, a schedule built to test a playoff-caliber roster," Crawford wrote. "That already means navigating the weekly Big Ten grind, but Michigan's slate goes a step further with its combination of elite opponents and difficult timing."
The beginning of the schedule isn't entirely awful, but things start to get gnarly with that matchup against the Buckeyes.
"Start at the backend with the annual showdown against Ohio State -- a rivalry that rarely needs extra stakes but almost always carries them anyway," Crawford continued.
"Then layer in matchups against other conference heavyweights like Indiana and Oregon, who bring different styles and physical challenges. There's no stylistic breather anywhere on the Wolverines' schedule; they at least get the benefit of opening the season with four straight home games (including Oklahoma)."
Michigan is up against the odds, but it will be interesting to see if they can defy them in a college football world that has more shakeup than we've arguably ever seen.
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