LS Nico Crawford a Steady Presence on Special Teams | Pitt All 105

Pitt All 105 is a Pittsburgh Sports Now series profiling each member of the Pitt 2025 training camp roster. In order to prepare for Pitt football’s 2025 season, PSN is breaking down every player on the roster in alphabetical order. Next up is long snapper Nico Crawford.

Nico Crawford transferred into Pitt last season from Charlotte and got immedietley to work as the Panthers’ long snapper on field goals and extra points.

He formed a strong trio with holder Cam Guess and kicker Ben Sauls, who put together a consistent and impressive final season at Pitt.

While many often overlook the holder and long snappers’ duties, they are extremely critical for the flow and set up of a field goal and extra point. Sauls does not make 21-of-21 field goals and 44-of-44 extra points without Crawford.

“Nico did a tremendous job,” Sauls said after the opening win against Kent State. “We had a lot of extra reps between extra points and field goals. I think nine total reps. They were all perfect and that helps me with my job.”

Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 235 pounds
Hometown: Dublin, Ohio

2024: During Crawford’s first season in Pittsburgh, he played in all 13 games as Pitt’s long snapper on extra points and field goals.

Camp outlook: Crawford will be back working as the primary long snapper for the placekickers. He’ll continue to form a strong connection with new holder Caleb Junko and whatever kicker wins the starting job between James London and Sam Carpenter.

Projected role: As a redshirt sophomore, Crawford will once again be the long snapper for extra points and field goals as he is slowly turning into a mainstay on special teams.

Crawford came to Pitt from Charlotte in which he played in 11 games in the same role. He originally joined Illinois as a walk-on in 2022, but did not see the field and redshirted.

Coming out of Dublin Scioto High School, Crawford was ranked as the No. 16 long snapper in the 2022 class, according to Kohl’s Kicking Camps.