Before the Olympics, USA Curling announced they were beginning a search for a High Performance Director to lead the national governing body’s competitive program after the 2026 Winter Olympics. Possible names swirled of who it could be, but one name that never even entered most people’s minds was the name just announced by USA Curling: Brad Gushue.
The hire will no doubt reverberate through the curling world, especially across Canada, as Gushue will lead the United States’ High Performance program aiming to capitalize on a successful international campaign that saw Cory Thiesse become the first woman to win an Olympic curling medal, a young men’s team make their Olympics debut, and another men’s team win a world junior championship for the first time since 2008.
While I had heard a few different names of possible candidates and applicants for the position, Gushue’s name was one that never remotely entered my thought process. Gushue has a long list of accolades:
won gold at the winter Olympics in 2006, then defeated the United States in the 2022 Olympics bronze medal game
won a world championship in 2017 and four silvers between 2018 and 2024
is the winningest curler in Brier history
has a following of a fan club of women in pink shirts
Why would anyone think to consider him as someone interested in taking over the United States Curling program?
It’s almost like if Derek Jeter was hired to be the General Manager of the Minnesota Twins. A man that had one of the most illustrious careers of all time, frustrating fans of opposing teams with his success. Now, he’s crossing the border to lead a program he has often beaten.
One Program, Two Different Situations
Gushue will have his work cut out for him as he assumes leadership over a USA High Performance program with two wildly different situations. While there are still questions at play regarding the futures of established veterans John Shuster, Matt Hamilton, and Korey Dropkin, Gushue inherits a men’s program with a strong pipeline of young talent.
Danny Casper is coming off his team’s ascent to the top of the US Olympic Team Trials and eventual qualification for the Olympics, finishing one game shy of the playoffs. Caden Hebert’s rink became the first US team to win a World Junior Curling Championship in nearly two decades. Add in Kevin Tuma’s team and whoever from Andrew Stopera’s squad decides to return next year along with a number of other young curlers, and you’ve got a long list of options with which Gushue can tinker.
Gushue, whose run to his Olympic gold at the age of 25, has the potential to be just the right thing at just the right time for skips coming into their own.
Meanwhile, on the women’s side, he will be needing to make sense of a women’s program riddled with more questions than answers. I expect Gushue will have to navigate a program with turnover at key positions and will need to work with coaches to bolster development of young talent who are still likely a couple years away from taking the next big step.
While there are some strong individual curlers, and some teams who have some promise, it’s likely a longer, windier path to success for the women’s teams. Not only will Gushue have to create a pathway for more consistent development of a pipeline of women to the top of the sport in the long term, but he may also need to weigh in on team construction of a women’s team in the short term.
“I’m excited to work alongside athletes and coaches to help them reach their full potential,” said Gushue in USA Curling’s press release.
A Unique Pedigree
There is no questioning the success that Brad Gushue has had on some of the biggest stages in the world. He was known for running his teams in a very specific way, and in a sport with so much turnover, roster changes were few and far between over the years.
But Gushue is an unknown when it comes to leading national programs and creating development pathways. The United States and Canada have very different levels of resources available to them, and while the 2006 Olympic gold medalist had to navigate his own challenges coming from Newfoundland and Labrador, he takes on a US program that was on the edge of disaster just 6 months ago before Peterson and Casper qualified the United States’ four-person teams for the Olympics.
Candidates were interviewed not just by USA Curling CEO Dean Gemmell, but also by members of the Athlete Commission, the USOPC, and members of USA Curling’s Board of Directors. Clearly, Gushue was able to successfully communicate a plan to the interviewers, and it stands to reason his recently acquired MBA will no doubt help with other management and leadership elements of the role.
But where Gushue stands in accomplishments and name recognition, he is something of a question mark when it comes to development and leadership of a national organization until he can prove it otherwise.
One thing’s for sure: it’s a big swing for USA Curling, and it’s one that could very well make a massive impact on the organization.
For better or worse.
Tour Talk is the segment of the Stones & Stripes newsletter focused primarily on United States’ curling athletes who are curling on the world tour.
Ben, thank you for this news and analysis.
I would write more, but it's hard with my fingers crossed.