UNIVERSITY PARK -- Five days before the Tim Jankovich era officially begins, the man replacing legend Larry Brown at SMU was up late, knee deep in strategy, blending the work of masters.

But Jankovich was far removed from the X's and O's of basketball. He was holed up in the man cave of his family's University Park home, belting out Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton on his electric guitar.

"It's the highest spot of the house," Jankovich said, fiddling with an amp. "When no one is home, the volume gets cranked extremely high."

Perched on a chair strumming his Gibson ES hollow body, with his dark hair slicked back and his black loafers tapping beats, Jankovich looked more like Johnny Cash than the Hall of Fame coach he's replacing.

Jankovich, 57, does not plan to follow quietly in Brown's footsteps. Steeped in classic rock and obsessed with Spinal Tap, he plans to turn the volume of his new-look Mustangs to 11. Moody Coliseum should be rocking for Friday's opener against Gardner-Webb.

"Coach Jank doesn't stop plays as much as LB," senior Sterling Brown said. "He lets us get up and down a little more. But they both like to teach, they're both great on the court."

For Jankovich, SMU represents a dream job. He so coveted the position, he gave up his head coaching position at Illinois State to help Brown rebuild on the Hilltop.

It's almost as if Jankovich was destined to coach the Mustangs. He said he was 12 when he "fell in love with Dallas" on a family vacation.

As a high school point guard, he was recruited by SMU. But he canceled his visit because he didn't want to compete against coach Billy Allen's son.

"I've always followed SMU closely, and I've always believed this was one of the great, great jobs in America," Jankovich said.

FILE - SMU interim head coach Tim Jankovich and guard Nic Moore (11) are pictured while participating in the school song following an NCAA season-opening basketball game between Sam Houston State and SMU at Moody Coliseum in Dallas on Saturday, November 14, 2015. SMU beat Sam Houston State 85-50. (Andy Jacobsohn/The Dallas Morning News) (Staff Photographer)

Instead, he went to Washington State, where he started one season, and then transferred to Kansas State. A three-year starter, he finished his K-State career among the top 10 in nine statistical categories.

After failing to land interest from NBA teams, Jankovich put Plan B -- law school -- in motion.

He applied to Harvard and SMU. He got in to SMU, but three weeks before classes started, he got a call from an executive search firm.

They asked if he was interested in becoming an institutional stockbroker. He could earn at least $100,000 training.

Nine months later, he was given the choice of four office locations -- New York, Boston, Chicago and Dallas. He chose Dallas.

"I came here for about six months and I loved my boss, but every day I could see myself reading The Wall Street Journal less and reading the sports page more," Jankovich said. "I felt the strong pull to do something I never wanted to do -- be a coach."

So he called Lon Kruger, a K-State assistant coach during Jankovich's playing days. Kruger, in his first head coaching job at Texas Pan American, brought his former point guard in as graduate assistant.

Jankovich's coaching start required a slight pay cut -- from the $100,000 salary he made trading equities to $100 a month, plus room and board.

But he lived in the dorm, food was free, and he taught tennis lessons on the side for gas money.

"I was so much happier, and I knew this is where I'm supposed to go," he said. "I actually took the job in Beverly Hills to make a lot of money and I learned quickly that for me, and I don't mean this for everybody, money is not what's going to make me happy. I have to have a passion, and if I end up good at my passion, then maybe the money will come."

A year later, he accompanied Kruger back to K-State as one of his assistants.

One of Jankovich's duties that first year was to serve as head coach of the JV team against rival Kansas' JV squad.

Current Kentucky coach John Calipari, an assistant under Larry Brown, coached Kansas' JV team, and R.C. Buford, current Spurs general manager, did the next year. Buford's JV assistant was current Kansas coach Bill Self, who later hired Jankovich as an assistant coach, first at Illinois and then Kansas.

"Once I got into coaching, there were two guys I followed -- Dean Smith and coach Brown," Jankovich said. "He [Brown] was someone I put on the highest pedestal. When I got to SMU, I think I surprised him when I said, 'This is what you were running in Detroit, this is what you ran in Philly.'"

FILE - SMU head coach Larry Brown in the first half of NCAA men's basketball action against the Loyola Marymount Lions at Moody Coliseum in University Park, Texas, on Saturday, November 10, 2012. Associate head coach Tim Jankovich is at far right. (Brad Loper/The Dallas Morning News) (Staff Photographer)

When Brown left the Hilltop over a contract dispute, Jankovich said he had mixed feelings.

Although he was happy to take control of the program he helped make relevant again, he was sad to see his legendary mentor leave.

Having shared philosophies on X's and O's with Brown for four years, Jankovich said the knowledge gained will make him a better head coach.

Brown's departure also might improve Jankovich's guitar playing. He has a little more money to spend on his favorite hobby.

"I think my big gift to myself is to finally buy a good acoustic guitar," he said. "I have a cheap acoustic I bought at a garage sale, but I hardly ever play it."

Since 1983, Jankovich has made 13 moves. Six of his assistant coaching jobs lasted two or fewer years.

But his trusty Gibson electric has been there all the way, helping to keep his hands steady during shaky times. He plays a lot of Stones, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Boston, to name a few.

"It's just a way to dial it down -- an over-the-counter sleep aid," he said. "I love playing the guitar, and I'm good enough to be in a really crappy band."

After assistant stints at Kansas State, Texas, Colorado State, Baylor and Oklahoma State, Jankovich landed his first head coaching job at North Texas.

During his time in Denton, from 1993 to '97, he hooked up with George Dunham, longtime Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket personality who spent 25 years calling UNT play-by-play.

Their passion for guitars and Spinal Tap eventually led to the formation of a band, Major Violations. Their version of Tom Petty's "Breakdown," taped from Jankovich's radio show, became a Ticket staple.

They played one gig, a bank opening in Denton, with a set list of eight songs.

"It's a blur now because I hadn't played in any public setting since high school," said Dunham, current member of the Bird Dogs band. "We didn't know that many songs. Luckily, I don't think there's a recording of it anywhere. It was really bad."

Neither has seen nor heard from the drummer, known only as Manny.

"He may have self-combusted," Dunham said, invoking a Tap reference.

In the movie, Spinal Tap lost some 12 drummers to mysterious deaths -- a bizarre gardening accident, choking to death on someone else's vomit and the spontaneous combustion on stage of Peter "James" Bond.

One was accidentally packed with the band's equipment and never seen again.

So Major Violations has that going for them. If the group ever gets back together -- this being the 20th anniversary of the bank gig and all -- Manny's status is doubtful at best.

"Tim is actually a pretty good guitar player. He can play," Dunham said. "There is talk of a reunion for sure."