Phil Martelli is an acting head coach? Make that two Phil Martellis in the same role, please.

So this is a little nuts.

When Michigan opens its men’s basketball season Tuesday hosting UNC Asheville, the Wolverines’ acting head coach will be Phil Martelli, filling in as head coach Juwan Howard completes his recovery from heart surgery.

First up, Bryant University opens its season on Monday, hosting Manhattan College. Bryant also has an acting head coach, Phil Martelli … Jr.

Father and son, same title, just maybe different styles.

“I know I’m not pacing the halls at 3:45 in the morning like he would,” Phil Jr. said.

“The last thing I’ll say to him before they play — don’t be messing with referees,” Phil Sr. said.

Kind of funny, since Martelli Sr. was never shy about expressing an opinion to the zebras when he was coaching St. Joe’s.

» READ MORE: How the Martellis continue to make college basketball a true family affair

Martelli Jr. is in charge at Bryant after head coach Jared Grasso took a leave from Bryant for undisclosed reasons. Separately, Grasso was then charged with leaving the scene of an accident. In other words, his future is murky. Martelli Jr. is just trying to be himself. He has been acting head coach for a game before.

His dad also has stepped in for Howard after a Big Ten suspension.

Making this one a bit crazier, Bryant’s opponent, Manhattan, features the debut of head coach John Gallagher.

So what, you ask? This game will feature two coaches raised in Delaware County, both of whom were walk-on players at St. Joe’s.

“I’m still trying to get the game moved to St. Dot’s gym,” Martelli Jr. said of facing Gallagher, who was just ahead of him on Hawk Hill.

You probably know enough about Martelli Sr.’s resumé. Martelli Jr. actually has worked at more places, not missing too many stations along the way. Among his stints, he worked under Joe Mihalich at Niagara.

“He lived on a porch of a house when he worked at Central Connecticut,” his father said.

Maybe Dad’s name got him in some doors, but that can be a double-edged sword since everyone would be keeping a close eye on Jr. looking for signs of entitlement. Even Dad looked at that. When did Phil Jr. first get interested in coaching?

“I would say all the way back to probably seventh grade,” Phil Sr. said, remembering how when Phil Jr. was a walk-on at St. Joe’s, “he drove around and worked at basketball camps. My comment to him: It’s all about the networking.”

“With him, it’s always been the same message,” Phil Jr. said of his father. “Be organized and be there for the program. I pride myself on being a good teammate. From not being the best player — I’ve never been that guy. Even in CYO. So be the best teammate. That still means being there for everybody else.”

Martelli Jr. certainly remembers how his father was up all night so often after St. Joe’s games.

“I just remember waking up and knowing he hadn’t been asleep — you could tell,” Phil Jr. said. “I remember that house being pin-drop quiet on game day.”

Then something changed that dynamic a bit. Hawks diehards might remember it. Phil Sr. became a grandfather.

“He just flipped,” Phil Jr. said. “I remember one time, [he was going to be coaching against] Dayton, big game. He was playing hide and go seek during the day with the grandkids.”

» READ MORE: Phil Martelli Sr., gathers the 2003-04 St. Joe’s men’s basketball team to remember a magical run

It sounds like Howard is getting closer to his return to Ann Arbor. Martelli said Howard has been very smart about listening to his doctors, not jumping back too soon after surgery was performed on Sept. 15 following an aortic aneurysm that required repair.

“Recently, he’s been back in the building. … He was in the building for our exhibition game,” Martelli said.

Martelli Jr., formally the associate head coach at Bryant, in his sixth season on Grasso’s staff, is 42 years old. Of the stops along the way, he notes, “I didn’t have this meteoric rise. … I worked in the Northeast Conference, the MAAC, the CAA, the G League, the A-10, back in the Northeast Conference, [and] now the America East. It’s prepared me, all those stops. And I have the fingerprints of all those people, with me at all times.”

So introducing your acting head coach(es) Phil Martelli … and there is another Martelli starting a new gig as an assistant. Phil Jr.’s brother Jimmy is a first-year assistant at Penn State, after working for new Nittany Lions coach Mike Rhoades at VCU.

As it so happens, Penn State will face Michigan on Jan. 7 at the Palestra.

When Martelli Sr. became Michigan’s acting head coach, quickly followed by Phil Jr. picking up the same title, Rhoades couldn’t resist a quip.

According to Phil Sr., “[Rhoades] actually asked Jimmy — ‘We good?’”