Interim Michigan coach Mike Boynton is hoping for a title change in the next few days.
When Dusty May left for the Dallas Mavericks on Monday in a move that sent shockwaves across college basketball, Boynton, one of May’s assistants the past two seasons, met immediately with athletic director Warde Manuel and was asked to “hold it down” as Manuel figured out next steps.
Boynton went right to work, meeting with staff, players, agents and families in an effort to keep what’s expected to be a top-10 roster intact for the defending national champions. So far, Boynton has commitments from returners Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney, and he believes that by next weekend, the roster will closely resemble what it was going to look like under May.
As for what the program looks like going forward, Boynton is trying to convince Michigan that a long-term commitment to him is the best setup for sustained success.
“I’m operating as if I’m going to be the coach,” Boynton told The Athletic on Saturday night. “I’m certainly going to try to make sure they understand that (keeping the interim tag) will create a different set of challenges.”
Boynton, 45, was previously the head coach at Oklahoma State for seven seasons, from 2017 to 2024, and was known as the defensive coordinator for a Michigan program that went 37-3 this past season. His pitch to Michigan’s administration: “I’ve done the job. I may not have done the job at Michigan, but I’ve been a successful coach at this level. I’ve sat there with Dusty, and the system is kind of set in place, but the best way to give everybody stability is to just not be worried about how long this is going to be and just go for it.”
In announcing Boynton as interim coach Tuesday, Manuel did not indicate a timeline for a decision on May’s full-time replacement.
“His experience, character and commitment to our values make him the right person to guide the team during this transition,” Manuel said in a statement Tuesday. Michigan did not have an additional comment when asked Sunday about whether the plan is to keep the interim tag on Boynton all season.
Manuel has been in a similar spot. Football coach Jim Harbaugh left in January 2024 following a national championship and Manuel hired offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore to replace him. Moore was 15-8 in two seasons before his termination for an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.
Harbaugh left early in the offseason. May left at a time when rosters are mostly set and the coaching carousel has long stopped.
Dusty May leaving for pros is familiar for Michigan fans
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Boynton is likely correct in that Michigan’s best chance at keeping the 2026-27 roster together is to keep Boynton and some of May’s staff. (Boynton said he’s focused on the roster first, and once that’s set, he’ll get to work on the staff.) For recruiting purposes, playing out a season with an interim coach makes future roster-building difficult, too. It’s hard to get a commitment from a player if they aren’t sure who the coach will be in a year.
The flip side is Michigan would be among the best open jobs in the sport if it were to open a full search after next season. That was evident two years ago when it landed May, who was one of the hottest candidates in the country after taking Florida Atlantic to the Final Four in 2023.
As for whether Boynton is the best man for the job, he’s trying to make that argument. And he has some experience in this spot.
Boynton said the last week has felt somewhat like deja vu. In March 2017, Oklahoma State coach Brad Underwood, only one year into the job, left for Illinois the day after the season ended. Boynton was elevated to head coach six days later.
May made his decision Monday morning. Boynton was asked to meet with Manuel, and the news of May’s departure became public as Boynton was on his way to the meeting.
A day when Boynton was supposed to be working at one of May’s youth summer camps at the Crisler Center became something else. He began meeting with Michigan’s players immediately.
“We were off and running,” Boynton said. “It was crazy.”
Boynton had been planning to attend Tuesday’s NBA Draft, but he wasn’t sure if he should still go considering the circumstances. Manuel encouraged him to go because he needed to be there to represent Michigan. Boynton stayed in New York on Tuesday night to replace May on Wednesday morning at an event at the New York Athletic Club.
“We’ve got really good players, really good resources, a great fan base, and I’m excited to serve our players and our program.”
Watch @TheAndyKatz’s interview with recently appointed @umichbball interim head coach Mike Boynton 👇 pic.twitter.com/mkXhc6mnMB
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) June 24, 2026
Since then, he has continued to meet with players, their agents and their families to try to convince everyone to stay at Michigan. He’s not sure he’ll get everyone back, but he seems confident most of the team will remain intact.
The Wolverines signed a top-five high school recruiting class, led by five-star point guard Brandon McCoy (No. 10 in the class, per the 247Sports Composite). They also landed a trio of transfers for their frontcourt, including The Athletic’s No. 13 and No. 25 transfers — Cincinnati center Moustapha Thiam and Tennessee forward J.P. Estrella.
Boynton went 119-109 in seven seasons at Oklahoma State, making just one NCAA Tournament and going 51-75 in Big 12 play before the school fired him in 2024. He believes he’s better set up to succeed this time because of his previous experience and the time working with May.
“I’m a better coach because I was able to sit by him,” Boynton said.
As Boynton has told agents this week, he plans to run his system similarly to how May operated.
“I watched us win 99 percent of our games in two years,” Boynton said. “I’m not the smartest guy in the world, but I’m not dumb enough to decide that I’m gonna not try my best to continue to play that way. Like it would be pretty idiotic to just start running the flex offense when I watched this offense be as successful as it’s been.”
Boynton plans to organize his staff like May did, too.
“He’s elite at delegating and managing people, surrounding himself with people he could trust to do jobs well, allowing them to do it well,” Boynton said. “I think in two years, Dusty May, maybe he was on the defensive side of the court in a practice, maybe one time. Maybe.”
Boynton said he learned from May how to be intentional about the people you surround yourself with, cover your blind spots and give those coaches autonomy. If he’s the head coach, he said he plans to continue to coach the defense while hiring an elite offensive coach.
“A lot of the offense has already kind of been set and recruited to play a certain way already,” Boynton said. “The roster was built to play his style and I think there will be tweaks depending on what we learn from the guys who are new and what they can do, but we’ve got some pretty well-established pieces with Elliot and Trey, and, for all intents and purposes, Elliot will be the offensive coordinator.”
Boynton is leaning into the abilities of Cadeau, who is entering his fourth season, as a floor general to help re-recruit the roster. Boynton said that Cadeau’s “fingerprints were all over the top 12 of the draft” with Michigan starters Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara.
With Cadeau and McKenney, the floor is high, even if Michigan loses a player or two to the portal. Because Boynton still has the interim tag, Michigan’s players will not be able to go into the portal until July 24, 31 days after he was appointed. If Boynton does get the interim tag removed, the portal would open five days after that announcement.
That timing is up to Michigan’s administration. Boynton has made his pitch.
