Amid Dusty May's June departure for the Dallas Mavericks, Michigan's leadership faced a challenging moment. Just three months removed from winning the national title, Wolverines athletic director Warde Manuel needed to navigate thorny dynamics in the search for May's successor.
Should Manuel, who is facing an uncertain future himself, have tried to capitalize on the momentum of the program's 2026 title to attract a big-time hire from outside the program? Billy Donovan was on the market after his time with the Chicago Bulls ran its course. Alternatively, could Manuel have poached a sitting head coach from another high-major institution during the summer months?
Then, there's the Mike Boynton dynamic. May's defensive coordinator for the past two seasons was sitting there with high-major head coaching experience at Oklahoma State and represented continuity.
With the Wolverines widely projected as a top-10 team for the 2026-27 season, promoting Boynton from within made sense for at least one obvious reason: it could help keep a talented roster together. Staring guards Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney are returning, and the Wolverines are welcoming the nation's No. 4 freshman class and No. 12 portal haul.
Given that players can enter the portal after their coach leaves, making an outside hire could easily have led to defections. But even within the "promote Boynton" camp there were options. Should he merely be the "interim" coach for the 2026-27 season, giving Michigan wiggle room to conduct a full coaching search next year? Or should they go all-in and signal their belief in Boynton by naming him the full-time head coach and granting him a multi-year contract? Ultimately, that's what the Wolverines did as Boynton landed a two-year deal to lead Michigan moving forward.
But Boynton will face immediate pressure in his first season. According to his employment agreement with Michigan, acquired by MLive, for Boynton to keep his job after his first season Michigan must follow NCAA and university rules, but also must keep players academically eligible. The Wolverines also must do two of the following:
Win 24 games in the regular season, finish in the top four of the Big Ten standings, win the Big Ten Tournament or make the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. If Michigan advances to the Final Four, the other performance-based requirements would be waived.
According to the agreement, Boynton's deal with Michigan will pay him $3.6 million in the first season and $4 million in his second season.
For this edition of the Dribble Handoff, our writers are weighing in with how they would have handled the search for May's successor.
This was obviously the right move
You never want to lose a college basketball coach in June, especially not a great one. So Michigan was in a tough spot when Dusty May agreed to leave and join the Dallas Mavericks one day before the 2026 NBA Draft. Did athletic director Warde Manuel look around a little? Yes, I'm told he did. But anything other than promoting Boynton would've put a top-10 roster at risk, and anything other than removing the interim tag would've hindered his ability to run the program effectively.
Will this work? I think so, yes. But, honestly, who knows?
Either way, what I'm certain of is that Warde removing Boynton's interim tag and giving him a real contract was the best play on the table at the time. If it goes well, great. If it doesn't, money is all it will take to end it quickly. And considering Michigan reportedly just spent more than $12 million to investigate its own athletic department, I think it's safe to assume money isn't really an issue in Ann Arbor. Other things, sure. But definitely not money. -- Gary Parrish
With no viable options, a two-year deal was the move
Let's first address the AD. Warde Manuel now finds himself fighting for his job amid a wickedly expensive outside investigation into the culture of U-M's athletic department in the wake of multiple scandals, the worst of which appears to be the events that led to Sherrone Moore's firing last December. Manuel had to have known the temperature on his job would be rising this offseason, so consider the spot he was in when May left. He no doubt made a few calls and did some check-ins, but within 72 hours of May leaving for the Mavericks, I was told there wasn't a viable big-name available to take the Michigan job in mid-June.
If there was, it would have meant an irrefutable top-10 roster would have splintered apart. Michigan would have had to start all over, and essentially punted on the 2026-27 season. Meantime, Boynton (someone with real experience running a high-major program, albeit to mixed results) was there and ready for the gig. Boynton was a vital presence the past two seasons under May; they may well have not won a national title if he wasn't on staff. He was relatively cheap, but giving a one-year contract is essentially nothing more than a glorified interim tag.
So going to two years, with the second year not being guaranteed, was the inevitable outcome for both sides. Boynton has retained the entire roster with the exception of LJ Cason, whose ACL injury will severely limit his availability next season as is. Boynton will have a high bar to clear. No matter how next season goes, he's either getting an entirely restructured contract or will be looking elsewhere for work. As things stand, Manuel has much bigger issues than who the basketball coach is. -- Matt Norlander
Michigan made the only logical play
What other choice did Michigan realistically have here? The timing of Dusty May's departure backed the Wolverines into a corner. Plucking a sitting high-major head coach from another program in the summer months is a far-fetched notion that likely would have spawned roster chaos. Perhaps that coach could have brought players with him to replace any who departed. But that would have been touchy. Besides, the list of coaches you would actually want who would be willing to change jobs during the summer is short and perhaps even nonexistent.
Hiring someone like Billy Donovan would have made a splash, but here's the problem: he wasn't a college head coach. He would have struggled to replace players who opted to transfer. The portal is barren by late June/early July and so are the international/high school talent pools. Since Donovan was not an active college head coach, it's not as if he could bring players who would be permitted to transfer from his old school in the wake of a coaching change there. His best bet for plugging holes on the roster would have been to sit back and hope all these 2026 seniors who are suing for an additional season get eligible.
Enter Boynton: He has already accomplished Mission 1 of keeping the roster together. With the exception of LJ Cason, who was expected to sit out in 2026-27 anyway while recovering from an ACL tear, this team looks exactly like it was going to look with May at the helm. That's a good thing, because it's an excellent roster.
Boynton was the program's defensive coordinator for May's two seasons, and he brings extensive high-major head coaching experience from his time at Oklahoma State. The Wolverines didn't need to break the bank and give him a five-year contract making him one of the sport's 10 highest-paid coaches. Thankfully, common sense prevailed and they didn't fall into that trap. He'll get the opportunity to prove himself and earn a contract of that nature. In the meantime, Michigan kept a talented roster in tact without tethering itself to some monstrous buyout on Boynton in case he doesn't pan out. -- David Cobb
Michigan had to do it
If Dusty May left in April, right when the NBA season ended, this might be a different conversation. The coaching carousel was still spinning, and the odds of Michigan being able to land a top coaching candidate were high. However, because of the timing and the fact that every Michigan player instantly became eligible to enter the transfer portal, Michigan made the right call to elevate Mike Boynton Jr. It was probably the only solution in which Michigan could keep its roster together that returns multiple key players from this past season's national title team.
This year will be a test for Boynton and he will reportedly have to meet several benchmarks, according to his employment agreement, acquired by MLive.
. On paper, this Michigan roster isn't as strong as last year's. And that should almost be a given because three Michigan players were drafted in the lottery. The Wolverines weren't just the best team in college basketball this past season; they did so in commanding fashion during an incredible NCAA Tournament run.
If Michigan underachieves in Year 1, it could be logical for Michigan to hit the coaching carousel. However, it seems like Michigan is buying into Boynton. For continuity's sake, it's the right call. -- Cameron Salerno
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