Christian Kuntz keeps proving his podcast is not just another athlete interview show. This episode opens in full comedy mode with Steelers linebacker Alex Highsmith stepping back in as a repeat guest and instantly matching the energy. Before they get anywhere near Xs and Os, Kuntz puts Highsmith on the spot with a challenge: impressions, right now, no warm up. What follows is the kind of locker room banter you only get when the guest is comfortable and the host knows how to let the moment breathe.
Highsmith leans into it with a Waterboy bit, then jumps to a surprisingly solid Joker impression that has the whole room cracking up. It is the perfect tone setter. These guys are pros, but they are also just dudes enjoying the off season, messing around, and letting people see the personalities fans do not always get on Sundays. Highsmith even admits he has been ripping through impressions with friends like a rapid fire routine, and you can tell the group is having a blast.
Then the conversation pivots to what everyone in Pittsburgh has been thinking about. The Steelers have a new head coach, Mike McCarthy, and both Kuntz and Highsmith are clearly fired up about it. Highsmith talks about meeting McCarthy and getting a feel for him right away. The key theme is simple: McCarthy is a Pittsburgh guy, a Yinzer, and that matters. They highlight how much passion he seems to have for the city and the organisation, and how that emotion showed up publicly in a way that resonated with fans. Kuntz mentions a line from McCarthy about wearing the same colours you came home in from the hospital as a newborn, and you can hear how much that hit him.
The best part of this segment is that it is not just hype. They talk honestly about how weird it feels to walk into the building during a transition like this. Highsmith says it is different for him because Tomlin is basically the only NFL head coach he has ever known. Kuntz goes a layer deeper and points out what fans often forget: coaching changes are not just about schemes or game plans. People are cleaning out offices. Staff members are losing jobs. Relationships that took years to build can end overnight. You can feel the respect they have for the humans behind the scenes, and the way they frame it makes the business side of football feel a lot more real.
From there, they get into what happens next in a locker room like Pittsburgh’s. Kuntz talks about veteran leadership and how guys like Highsmith and others become the bridge between the existing culture and whatever the new staff brings in. Highsmith agrees. When a new coach arrives, he is going to lean on the veterans to understand what the room is, how it moves, and how to bring everyone together. It is a cool look at leadership that goes beyond speeches and hashtags. It is the daily stuff. The buy in. The trust. The awkward early stage where everything is new but the expectations stay the same.
Of course, it would not be a Kuntz episode without the conversation drifting into the wider sports world. The crew starts bouncing around big storylines, quarterback narratives, and how quickly fans can write players off. They talk about how the league sometimes gives up on QBs too early, and how a change of situation can completely reshape a career. The tone stays light and conversational, but the point is clear: development matters, patience matters, and the internet era makes it harder for either one to exist.
And then, because this show is what it is, they jump into UFC. The discussion turns into a mix of fight recap, respect for the grind of combat sports, and a real talk moment about fighter pay compared to boxing. Kuntz shares a story about training with an MMA fighter and how even “not full speed” strikes can feel absolutely unreal. They compare it to football in a way that makes sense. In the octagon, there is no hiding. No help. Just you. That is the kind of perspective that makes athlete conversations interesting when they are done right.
The episode closes the way it started: friends in a room, cracking jokes, shouting out sponsors, and throwing out predictions. It is not polished in a corporate way, and that is exactly the charm. Kuntz has built something that feels like you are sitting in the studio with them, hearing the stuff that would normally stay inside the facility walls. Highsmith shines because he is relaxed, funny, and thoughtful, and Kuntz keeps the whole thing moving without forcing it.
If you want a Steelers podcast that mixes real locker room insight with the kind of humour that makes you forget you are even listening to an interview, this one is an easy play.
