Things have moved rather quickly this offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In the blink of an eye, former head coach Mike Tomlin stepped down following another playoff loss. Two weeks later, Mike McCarthy was named the 17th head coach in franchise history, and just the fourth since 1969.

McCarthy had his introductory press conference on Tuesday, officially starting his era as the head coach of his hometown team. A handful of current and past players attended McCarthy’s press conference to welcome him to the organization, including veteran outside linebacker Alex Highsmith.

Appearing on The Christian Kuntz Podcast that published on YouTube Thursday morning, Highsmith expressed his excitement for the new era with McCarthy.

“I got to meet him yesterday. I got to talk to him a little bit, so I’m gonna talk to him here again soon. But I’m really excited for it. He’s a Pittsburgh guy, he’s a Yinzer. So just the passion that he has for this city, for the organization, for the Steelers, I think is something that is really awesome,” Highsmith said of McCarthy, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “So I’m just excited to get to work with him. And so it’s just to see what the future has planned, but I’m excited for it. It’s definitely gonna be different, ’cause all I’ve known since I’ve been in the league is Mike T.

“It’s gonna be different, but I’m excited for what’s ahead.”

There’s still a bit of shock and uncertainty within the Steelers’ locker room following Tomlin’s resignation after 19 years, but at the same time there is a lot of excitement about the Steelers bringing in a proven commodity like McCarthy.

He has a Super Bowl on his resume, has won 174 career games as a head coach with the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, and knows how to coach up the quarterback position and scheme up an offense. That’s the opposite of what the Steelers have had over the years with Tomlin, who came up as a defensive mind and leaned into that throughout his career.

During his introductory press conference, the passion for the city, the fan base and the organization poured out of the Greenfield native, which hit home for some of the players in attendance, like Highsmith. The outside linebacker might not have grown up in Pittsburgh or a Steelers fan, but spending the last six seasons in Pittsburgh has made him a Yinzer at heart, so he understands what the job means to McCarthy.

For Kuntz, he truly is a Yinzer, born and bred.

Kuntz was supposed to be at the press conference but couldn’t make it due to a family scheduling conflict. Still, watching his new head coach pour out his passion and drop the line about wearing the Steelers colors had an impact on the veteran long snapper.

“His opening remark, he just looked like he was like a little kid on Christmas. And then what he said about going to a different team and it takes a little bit, I haven’t experienced that, you haven’t experienced that. But you go to a new team and you gotta experience and get comfortable wearing the new colors. And he’s like, you know, when you’re blessed beyond measure and you get to wear the same colors that you came home in from Mercy Hospital, that gave me goosebumps,” Kuntz said of McCarthy. “I came home from McGee Hospital, but I was fired up like that. And he was crying; that’s life changing. That was cool.

“It shows this guy’s deeply rooted here in Pittsburgh and I’m fired up.”

McCarthy’s first statement as the new Steelers head coach played into his roots as a Yinzer, highlighting that he came home from Mercy hospital in Black and Gold.

It resonated with Kuntz, and with the fan base as well. While there are probably many out there who still aren’t thrilled with the hire, or the Steelers’ process of finding a new head coach, it’s hard to deny the powerful moment that it was on Tuesday after McCarthy was announced and the emotions that poured out of him.

Now, it’s about finding the success on the field once again for the Black and Gold. They’ve come up short too often in the last decade in the playoffs, and they haven’t been able to figure out the quarterback position since Ben Roethlisberger retired. The hope — and belief — is that McCarthy is the guy to fix that. 

“I’m happy about it, man. Like I previously on the pod, anybody that the Steelers hire as a head coach, they did their due diligence, and they know what the hell they’re doing when hiring a head coach,” Kuntz said.

Time will tell. But one thing is clear, and it’s not surprising: McCarthy and the Steelers won the press conference. There are a lot of good vibes coming from the Steelers at the moment with McCarthy’s powerful moments at the podium. Now, the real work begins.