College football coaches have made switches to other walks of life in the past. Transitioning to a different sport, where the team is struggling, isn’t completely out of bounds. Phil Mickelson is interested in someone like a star college football coach after Team USA disappointed fans in the Ryder Cup. As Europe walks away with a win on away grounds. Mickelson is calling for a change in leadership.

USA has lost the prestigious tournament to Europe, despite putting forward a strong fight. Mickelson, known for his head-turning comments, dished out another bold take after the defeat. He wrote on X that “looking outside of golf to a coach K or Lou holtz is worth exploring.” He later stressed that he wanted a “Lou Holtz type coach,” considering the 2-time National Championship winner will be 90 when the Ryder Cup resumes in 2027.

That age and coaching at any sport don’t really sit well together. But Phil Mickelson wanted someone with the calibre of the former coach. Lou Holtz, with his 249-132-7 record, has spent a long time shaping programs for success. The veteran coach, with his years of experience in creating good results should serve as a good template for the next captain of Team USA. Holtz has had multiple stints in his career. But his most successful one was at South Bend, where he hauled in a 100-30-2 record. The National Championship won by him at Notre Dame is the program’s last one so far. But it’s not just the game mentality that Mickelson is targeting.

Lou Holtz is known to be a strict coach and instills a sense of discipline in his men. Team USA needed to show order – something that Europe stood out in during the tournament. “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,” Phil Mickelson noted. When Holtz took charge of Notre Dame, it was still a struggling program. He had player names scraped from jerseys – something that is in practice even under Marcus Freeman. He did that to instill a sense of unity, and it ran through all the years he coached Notre Dame. Under his leadership, the Fighting Irish hauled in 5 winning seasons with double-digit wins.

The legendary coach has also proven his worth when it comes to crisis situations. Holtz led Arkansas to their 3rd Natty in the 1977 season, which was his debut as the Hogs’ HC. But before that momentous game, Arkansas lost Leotis Harris to injury, while Holtz suspended starting RBs Ben Cowins and Michael Forrest, and star WR Donny Bobo. The HC brought up then-reserve RB Ronald Sales to take care of the rushing attack, and ultimately led the Razorbacks to a National title.

Team USA had put up a strong fight, but those efforts all went in vain. America will take some time to recover from this loss, considering this edition of the Ryder Cup was on home grounds. Here’s a look at what happened on this defining day of the tournament.

Team USA fought back strongly for the Ryder Cup, but Europe emerged strong

America started slow last Sunday, losing the first 4 of 5 sessions to Europe. But the team kicked back into rhythm later on. In fact, the USA won 8.5 singles points, far more than they’d scored in the first sessions this week. In fact, the Americans also cut down their starting deficit of 7 points as they entered the final day – a gap that last manifested in 1979, when the Ryder Cup adopted its current format. Europe, on the other hand, needed just two to defend their claim on the trophy.

Cameron Young defeated Justin Rose, and Brandon DeChambeau took on Matt Fitzpatrick and put up 5 points on the board. Justin Thomas looked a lot better than his Friday self, defeating Tommy Fleetwood. Then world-ranked stars Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy faced off against each other, with the No. 1 Scheffler prevailing as the winner. But then came the winning putt from Europe’s Shane Lowry, as opponent Russell Henley missed on his birdie putt.

There were calls for Phil Mickelson himself to step in as team captain before the Ryder Cup, but he kept himself out of the tournament. But a change is necessary for the group. That’s why Mickelson is leaning towards someone like Lou Holtz to take charge of this troubled ship, so that the USA can reassert its dominance in the next Ryder Cup.