Bucky McMillan uses Bear Bryant story to explain his approach to Texas rivalry

Bucky McMillan is an Alabama native that grew up in the heart of the Iron Bowl rivalry, born in Birminham just seven months after the death of legendary Alabama head football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.

It’s through that Crimson-colored lense that the newly-minted 41-year-old Texas A&M head men’s basketball coach is approaching the equally acrimonious A&M-Texas rivalry.

“Well I know that anytime there’s rivalries, it’s great for athletics. It brings out the best in … the players – sometimes not the fans, right?” McMillan said during his introductory press conference Monday. “But with any team … like I know with Bear Bryant back in the day, a great coach here, coached at Alabama. And he put an Auburn jacket in his closet every day because he would open that closet up in the morning to get dressed and he’d see that, and he knew he had to go to work.

“That’s what I want for this program, and that’s how hard I’m going to work. Because the truth is, if we’re going to do something and become a power player in this league, and be able to dominate this league in time, you’ve got to outwork everyone in this league. And that includes in-state rivals as well.”

Notice McMillan didn’t actually ever name the Aggies’ particular in-state rival — the Texas Longhorns. Clearly, A&M’s new basketball coach is already learning the ways in College Station.

Bucky McMillan compares his coaching style to Johnny Manziel’s showing at Bryant-Denny Stadium

Prior to his introductory press conference, McMillan made it a point to rile up the assembled fans as he was introduced as Texas A&M’s new head men’s basketball coach during a ceremony Monday. And he made it a point to shoutout one of the most notable — and notorious — Aggie alumns in recent memory: Johnny Manziel.

“I was in Bryant-Denny Stadium when a guy you may know by the name of Johnny Manziel rolled into town,” McMillan said according to TexAgs.com. “They were fearless. That’s how we’re going to play basketball. That’s how we play basketball.”

McMillan’s teams have long been known for their fast pace, with his entertaining style of play has affectionately come to be known as “Bucky Ball.” McMillan coaches an equally rapid pace on defense, constantly pressing his opponents for 94 feet. In turn, the Bulldogs ranked in the Top 20 in the country for opponent turnover percentage the past two seasons.

Samford is the only head coaching job McMillan has held at the collegiate level. Before leading the Bulldogs, McMillan was the head coach at Mountain Brook High School in Alabama from 2008-20.

McMillan won three 7A state basketball championships and two 6A state basketball championships at Mountain Brook. In total, he led the program to seven appearances in the state tournament semifinals, 10 regional tournament appearances and nine area titles.

— On3’s Grant Grubbs and Wade Peery contributed to this report.