There’s no shortage of people with opinions about the United States’ disappointing performance at the 2025 Ryder Cup and where the Americans go from here before the next installment of the event in 2027.
One of the main questions a lot of people have is who should replace the beleaguered Keegan Bradley as U.S. captain. Golf legend Phil Mickelson has some outside-the-box ideas.
Mickelson has been a part of 12 Ryder Cup teams during his career, including winning squads in 1999, 2008 and 2016. He last competed in the event in 2018 and confirmed over the weekend that his Ryder Cup days are over.
However, Mickelson has thoughts on who could possibly get the best out of the American golfers in future battles with Europe, and he’s eyeing an answer from outside the world of golf.
Coach K for the USA?
In a response to Normal Sports’ Kyle Porter, a longtime golf writer, Mickelson suggested former longtime Duke men’s basketball and Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski or college football coaching legend Lou Holtz as possible answers to lead the American charges.
“If the question being posed is, ‘Man, Europe’s excellence seems to emanate from a trust that is built by establishing relational equity and world class communication at every turn. Who can we get to build our version of that?’ I don’t think ‘Tiger Woods’ is the answer,” Porter said on X/Twitter.
“Here is why looking outside of golf to a coach K or Lou holtz is worth exploring,” Mickelson began in response. “Golf is an individual sport that doesn’t have team work, support system, partnership, team analytics, personality traits, and more. The Europeans have a template that teaches and prepares their captains for these skills. U.S. has a new template every 2 years with little continuity.
“If a coach K or Lou Holtz or someone similar took over, would it be built upon or would it be scrapped and start over again afterwards? If that’s the case, it would be a waste of time and effort and not worth doing to begin with.”