CARBONDALE (WSIL) -- "Blue, blue, blue."
Sitting courtside at the SIU versus St. Louis game December 1, you could hear Bryan Mullins yelling out instruction.
Bryan is intense on the SIU sidelines.
As a player, Bryan was a fierce competitor who helped lead the Salukis to the 2007 Sweet Sixteen.
Watching an old clip from the 2007 NCAA tournament, Bryan makes a big basket and it's neat to hear "Clock winding down. Mullins, oh right over Washington," on the play-by-play call.
Now in his first year as SIU Head Coach, Bryan tries to get the Salukis back to the NCAA Tournament, a void that hasn't been filled since his playing days.
The best part? He gets to do it with his older brother, Brendan.
"Ah, it's awesome. It's awesome. I've said it since the beginning of this opportunity, it's so special to be able to do it with him," Bryan said.
At the Division 1 level, they are the only brothers to currently coach together.
"'How is it to your brother as your boss?' I probably get asked that question once a day. Honestly it's been awesome, he's such a good guy, such a good person," Brendan said.
"Brendan has been coaching longer than I have, and he has helped me tremendously throughout my career and to be able to do this with him, it's just unique and special opportunity for our family," Bryan added.
"His competitive nature, his work ethic it drives me to be better, and I want to do so well for him," Brendan said.
Speaking of competitive nature, I have to ask who's the better athlete?
(Laughter) "The better athlete?" Bryan asks.
"He is, he is," Brendan quickly replies while pointing at Bryan.
"I might have been a litter quicker than he was, but he was probably the better shooter growing up," Bryan said.
And the competitive spirit never dies.
"I don't think it does, I think we're competitive, anything whether it's a card game, ping pong, we grew up playing ping pong a lot actually, had one in the basement. Everything was I want to beat him and he wants to beat me," Brendan said.
But now they can win together. Before it came to fruition, they knew if an opportunity came up they were both all in.
"I don't know if we ever had a specific conversation. I think it was always in the back of our heads. Whoever had an opportunity to be a head coach first I think it was almost unspoken but agreed upon it would be awesome to work together and something we'd love to be able to do together," Bryan said.
"Once he got the job there were no thoughts, there was no discussion, it was happening. As much as I love working for my boss at Illinois State and stuff and had some opportunities to take a few other jobs, I wanted to do this with my brother from the start," added Brendan.
Is there any pressure in hiring your brother?
"I don't feel pressure because of that, I put more pressure on myself than anyone else can so I have high expectations of what I expect this program to be and where it's going to go, and it's a huge privilege to have him with me, and my staff is awesome, and that's the reason we are going to have success is because of the guys I've hired," Bryan said.
When it comes to recruiting, family is a big selling point.
"We literally get to sell family, and this really is a family to us. We had the whole team over at Thanksgiving. My dad being a big basketball coach is down here at practices all the time, comes to almost every single game although it's five hours away, and he is a part of this thing so when we talk recruiting to guys it means a little more," Brendan said.
And when you walk the halls of the Banterra Center you can sense the pride Bryan has for SIU.
"Since I've been back here in the past ten years what they've done with the arena, locker room, hallways, the weight room, it just shows the importance and how invested they are in SIU athletics."
And when you look down there and recognize that guy and that memory, what's that like?
"Just shows what this place is and what they expect here and where our goal is and where we are headed. We want all of our guys to cut down nets and to be able to do it with my brother and with the rest of my staff, it's just an unbelievable opportunity for us and we are excited to be here."
