He Hasn’t Followed His Father’s Formula on the Court : Basketball: Assistant coach Brian Mulligan, son of former UC Irvine Coach Bill, stresses defense, not offense, at Capistrano Valley.

During final exam week at Capistrano Valley High School, world history teacher Brian Mulligan was reviewing ancient Greece with a class of sophomores.

The lesson centered on the city states of Athens and Sparta and the differences in their culture, philosophy and government.

Mulligan was discussing the lifestyle of Spartans and made this observation: “The Spartans had a win-at-all-cost philosophy toward life similar to that of Raiders owner Al Davis.”

Somehow, Mulligan found a correlation between Davis’ “Just Win, Baby” philosophy and ancient Greek history.

“I’ve always found that there is a correlation between current world events and world history,” Mulligan said. “I end up getting sports into the classroom about 90% of the time.”

History and sports have a way of blending together for Mulligan. The history teacher was once a student on the basketball court. He learned his lessons as a player at San Clemente High and later as a bench-warmer at UC Irvine.

Today, Mulligan, 31, son of former UC Irvine basketball Coach Bill Mulligan, is teaching the game as assistant coach for Capistrano Valley’s highly successful boys’ basketball team. Mulligan’s game? Oddly enough, it’s defense.

Mulligan’s first lesson came as a senior point guard at San Clemente High, where he played under Coach Rich Skelton, now boys’ athletic director at Dana Hills.

Skelton was a proponent of the slow-down game, but Mulligan and his teammates preferred the run-and-gun style that was quickly becoming the rage of roundball.

“The players were always complaining about so many defensive drills in practice and how much we slowed the ball down in games,” Mulligan said. “We wanted to open up against teams and score some points.”

Early in the season, San Clemente was scheduled to play Ocean View and its high-scoring duo of forward Wayne Carlander and guard Jeff Andrade. Skelton decided to teach his players a lesson and allowed them to play an up-tempo game.

“When we were down by 25 points at halftime, Skelton turned and said to us, ‘Do you guys still think you’re a running team?’ ” Mulligan said. “It was something I’ll never forget.”

Fast forward to UC Irvine four years later. Mulligan, a reserve guard on his father’s team, watches Fresno State Coach Boyd Grant beat UC Irvine with another fine defensive effort. UCI Coach Bill Mulligan calls Grant’s style, “vomit basketball,” but his son is starting to see the light.

“I used to wonder why Fresno would always beat Irvine,” Brian Mulligan said. “I’d see someone like Tyrone Bradley guarding Kevin Magee and it was a mismatch. Then, I’d look at the score, see that Irvine lost, and ask myself why?

“It dawned on me that Fresno was playing better defense. Fresno always played better defense. My dad’s offense was as good as any you’ll ever see. But he always thought he was going to outscore you, and it didn’t always work that way.”

So Brian Mulligan’s trademark became defense. He found his niche at Capistrano Valley High, where Coach Mark Thornton, one of the county’s top offensive coaches, handed him the defensive reins seven years ago.

“I knew I couldn’t go wrong hiring him,” Thornton said. “When I coached at Dana Hills and Brian played at San Clemente, he used to just tick me off holding the ball on his hip in that damn slow-down game.”

Mulligan is the primary reason second-ranked Capistrano Valley is allowing an average of 52.4 points per game. Mulligan plans the defensive drills for each practice and is in charge of the defensive schemes the Cougars use on game nights.

“I’ve always enjoyed the positioning of players, the strategy of using different defenses, motivating the players to execute certain things and the desire to shut down another team,” Mulligan said. “I found my niche here doing the defense.”

It wasn’t always that way. Brian Mulligan planned to go to law school when he enrolled at UC Irvine. He earned a degree in social ecology (urban planning) at Irvine and began studying for law school. Then his career took a detour.

“I was living with my father at the time, and I’d watch him draw up plays and talk to his assistants before games,” Mulligan said. “I realized they were having a lot of fun . . . a lot more fun than the people I knew studying law. So I decided on a career change.”

Mulligan became a graduate assistant at UCI, where he monitored players’ academic records and sent letters to potential recruits. Mulligan didn’t do much coaching, but he had found his calling.

Thornton hired Mulligan as an assistant at Capistrano Valley for the 1985-86 season and the Cougars finished 27-3. Mulligan figured coaching was easy but later realized, “The athletes here make the defense look even better.”

After three seasons, Mulligan accepted a head coaching position at Orange Glen High in Escondido. He helped rebuild a struggling program that had won only three games the previous year. Orange Glen finished 9-16 under Mulligan. When school administrators failed to offer him a full-time teaching position, he resigned and returned to Capistrano Valley.

“I wasn’t enjoying the drive down there, and I couldn’t get a full-time job,” Mulligan said. “Our superintendent told me if things didn’t work out, I could always come back. I’ll always be grateful that he gave me the opportunity to come back.”

During Mulligan’s absence, Capistrano Valley won its first Southern Section basketball title, defeating Irvine, 76-49, in the 1989 Division 5-A championship game. Mulligan’s peers often remind him that the school won the title in his absence.

Mulligan is described by his contemporaries as “a fun-loving guy who is all business on the basketball court.” He admits he was once too serious as a coach and had problems dealing with some players.

“I didn’t understand the politics involved with the administration and parents,” Mulligan said. “I also wanted 100% from the players at all times. I remember I was ready to run Charles Lockard (now at Christ College Irvine) off the team. Now, I think I’ve become a buffer between Mark (Thornton) and the parents.”

Bill Mulligan has watched his son mature into one of the county’s most respected coaches and likes what he sees on and off the court.

“I’m really happy with the way Brian turned out,” Bill said. “He relates to the kids as well as the parents. I think that’s real important in Orange County. He talks both languages, and that’s something a lot of coaches can’t do. I know his mother wanted him to go to law school, but I’m really proud of him.”

Brian Mulligan said he learned how to place things in perspective early in his life growing up with his older brother, Billy. Bill Mulligan Jr. was born with cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair.

“It’s the most frustrating disease in the world,” Brian said. “Billy’s mind is sharp, but he’s limited to what he can do. There were times when Billy would need to be fed, and instead of sitting with my cool friends at school having lunch, I would have to feed him.

“I once thought that wasn’t cool. But Billy kept things in perspective for all of us. He is a big reason all of us turned out OK. I know I would have less empathy for people who don’t do things as well as I do if it wasn’t for Billy. He’s had a very humbling effect on me. As I got older, I started to realize how special my brother really is.

“Billy graduated from college and my parents point with pride to him. I’m a coach and my brother (Shawn) flies helicopters. But we don’t compare to Billy and what he’s achieved. Above everything else, he’s kept our family closer together.”

Mulligan also remains close to coaching friends and former players by competing in a men’s recreational basketball league on weekends. Among his teammates are former Capistrano Valley forward Dan Dargan and former Capistrano Valley assistant Dan Ryan. Mulligan insists the games are merely for fun.

“We don’t play defense,” Mulligan said. “We shoot all the time. We figured the object of a men’s league team is to have fun. We average 60 shots a game between the three of us.”

The recreation league play is a stark contrast to the 50-minute defensive practices that Mulligan conducts each afternoon at Capistrano Valley.

“I handed the defense over to him,” Thornton said. “It’s all his in practices and games. He’s basically a head coach who is in charge of the defense.”

Bill Mulligan thinks it’s only a matter of time before his son becomes a head coach.

“I know Brian feels loyalty to Capistrano Valley, but I think he has to make a move next year,” he said. “At this stage in his life, it’s important for him to make his own decisions as a coach. I know he’s been very selective about which coaching job he wants.”

Mulligan points to upcoming openings at Woodbridge and Dana Hills and anticipates applying for both positions after the season ends. Until then, he’s content as an assistant at Capistrano Valley.

“I have a free rein at Capistrano Valley, but I don’t want to be an assistant here forever,” he said.