Andy Murray will hope to lead by example next weekend when Britain take on the United States in Glasgow in the Davis Cup, but in the future, he could easily be taking on a more all-encompassing role, according to captain Leon Smith.

The World Group first-round tie is set to be played in front of 7100 fans at the Emirates Arena and with a 19-2 record in singles, Murray's importance to the team is obvious. A good run in the Davis Cup is one of the few things lacking on his resume, but when the 27-year-old eventually calls time on his playing career, Smith believes the Scot would make an incredible captain due to his increasingly impressive role off the court.

"He'd be absolutely incredible," Smith said. "The respect he'd have of the players. If he wants to do his time, absolutely he would be one of the best. He'd be a wonderful captain."

Back in the elite World Group and with such an exciting tie against the US to come, Smith isn't thinking about handing over the reins just yet. But if and when Murray should decide that he might like to "give back" then he would be an obvious choice.

Smith believes that the work Murray has done in helping some of the other British players, including team-mate James Ward, singles him out as a team player.

"He's definitely been very open to helping the guys over the past few years," Smith said, referring specifically to his invitations to Ward and Kyle Edmund to train with him in the off-season.

"At the Davis Cup where I've experienced it, he's always really good with the guys, taking them aside and having conversations with them.

"He's developed a very close relationship with James Ward but now he's definitely finding a focus on Kyle. All he'll want is for those young guys to work hard, be professional, be committed. He sees that in them. He sees, for example, Liam [Broady] travelling for months on end last year to the States, and he'll go: 'good, that's commitment, you're on it'. He'll see them fighting.

"He obviously works with Kyle, who's very good in training, works hard, is very diligent and clearly loves the game. So that will get Andy's interest, and if you get that, he's a great person to have in your corner."

It's hard to think of another top player taking so much time out to offer his fellow countrymen a chance to train with them or learn from the effort they put in. In the past, Murray has had Jamie Baker and his brother, Jamie, out to train with him and he seems to be enjoying if not quite a fatherly role, then playing that of an elder brother.

Smith said the likes of Ward, Edmund and Broady, all of whom have risen in the rankings in the past 12 months, should follow Murray's example.

"They should look up to him in terms of how he works," Smith said. "He's given them a taste of it in terms of bringing them into his environment from time to time and if they run with that and show the same work rate, desire, commitment, then [they will do well].

"It's nice to see that but he's also like all of us - he's been on his own [on Tour] so long, there's no doubt it would be much better for him to be able to walk into player restaurants, cafes at every tour event and have more British players there, on site. He's desperate to see people break in."

Watching Murray train is almost as exhausting as it must be to take part, and Ward (now 108) and Edmund (151) have clearly gained from experiencing his intensity first hand.

"I think it's good for them, whether it's Florida, at Davis Cup or when he's back in London," Smith said. "It's good for them to see not just how the ball comes back over and over again, the consistency he can show, the length of the sessions - how long he can concentrate for - and then all the stuff around it. It's not just your on-court work but all the little things that can help, help you recover better from a match, so you can go deeper in tournaments. That's the stuff everyone needs to grasp."

Murray may, of course, decide Davis captaincy is not for him but Smith believes he might be more inclined if more British players can improve their ranking to a point where they could at least stay in the World Group and perhaps reach the latter stages.

Winning it is still a tall order for Britain, even with Murray in the side, but there is no question the Scot would enjoy at least one extended run in the competition.

"If you've got two top 50, top 40 players and a good doubles team, you've got a shot at doing something," Smith said. "It just depends on the draw, every year is different in Davis Cup. You could play Switzerland [the holders] this year, as Belgium have got, and no Stan [Wawrinka], no Roger [Federer] and it's suddenly completely different.

"The Aussies have got Czech Republic, no Tomas Berdych, it really is a bit of luck of the draw and luck of the year."

Murray, Ward, Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot will take a US team led by John Isner, a match Smith rates as 50-50.

"I think we have one of the toughest matches now because of the other team and their make-up," he said.