By Chris Oddo                           Photo Credit: Remy de la Mauviniere
“It’s my job to make them comfortable, not to make me comfortable,” Jim Courier said of his view of the player-coach dynamic, in the weeks leading up to his first Davis Cup tie as American Captain.

Since then the 40th US Davis Cup captain has methodically gone about his business, lending bits and pieces of wisdom to his players, and basically doing anything he can to help them become the players they can be.

Just a few years into his tenure, things are going swimmingly. More than just a cheerleader in a suit and chic shades, Courier is a source of information to tap into for these young players. He’s a beacon of light with a wealth of wisdom and experience to his name, and he’s more than happy to dole out the info to his players whenever the need should arise.

“In management -- which is really what coaching is -- you  have to understand what makes people tick,” Courier says. “People respond to different things.”

It is this flexibility -- the willingness to be adaptable -- that is making Courier so effective in his role as part-time coach for players ranging from blossoming veterans John Isner to a still wet-behind-the-ears youngster like Ryan Harrison.

Courier’s experience on clay, for one, has been a godsend to the historically clay-allergic Americans. With experts everywhere calling for better tennis through better shot selection and patience, Courier might not only be the perfect coach for young Americans -- he might be coaching in the perfect era for a coach with his skillset.

The two-time French Open champion is one of the last great American clay-courters, and if it’s really true that our big-serving, forehand-smashing Americans would all benefit from some more quality time on the clay, then that’s just fine with Courier.

“Clay is an excellent tool to learn patience and to learn how to play chess because you have to work more for the points,” Courier told reporters Saturday, just after his squad had taken a 2-1 lead over France at the Monte Carlo Country Club. “When I was at Bollettieri's Tennis Academy, we would play some days on the same afternoon on clay, hard court, and indoor fast court.  It shows you where your weaknesses are when you are exposed to all different speeds of play.”

Players, in particular John Isner, are taking notes. Isner is quick to credit his full-time coach Craig Boynton with his recent success, but clearly Courier is facilitating some revelations too.

Isner doesn’t deny that either. He was full of praise for Courier after his coach helped him develop a gameplan to take down Roger Federer in Switzerland in Davis Cup play in February. The win was a huge breakthrough for Isner, and it was Courier who helped Isner see just how miserable he can make other players (even great ones like Federer) if he really focused on dictating play with his powerful ground strokes.

Isner's approach might sound counterintuitive to typical clay-court tactics, but that is what makes Courier a better coach and Captain than a lot of others. He’s not scripted or set in his ways. He’s interested in searching for new angles, and matching strategies with personalities.

“I don’t think you can take a unilateral approach -- this is my way or the highway,” says Courier.

“I believe that Jim knows how to relate -- not only to the team collectively, but to individuals,” Nick Bollettieri told me in a phone interview last year. “As a coach you need to know each player as a person. Their idiosyncrasies. Can you be tough on one person and soft on another. This is what Courier brings [to the Davis Cup team].”

He also brings an air of cool. He’s been around the world, he’s won four Grand Slams, he’s hip, and he’s a fantastic communicator.

You can go on and on for eternity when counting things there are to like about Jim Courier as the US Davis Cup Captain.

You can hear it in his voice when he assesses the play of 19-year-old Ryan Harrison. The wheels are turning and he wants desperately to help Harrison improve. He measures his words carefully when addressing the press, ensuring that he keeps it positive. “Tsonga’s one of the best players in the world and Ryan was in that match,” he says.

It’s just what the young man, desperate for a top ten win to jumpstart his career, needs to hear.

“I think he’s an unpolished diamond and there’s a lot to work on to get better.“

That, too.

“It's exciting for us,” says Courier of Harrison. “Those of us that are caring about American tennis, to see someone like Ryan who is willing to put the effort in.  He's going to get better and better.”

The more that he talks, the more we want to listen. Every word, carefully measured to extract the best tennis from American’s best players.

Call it good coaching. Call it the Courier effect.

Whatever you call it, it's working.