Report: Mike Boynton to Become Michigan’s Interim Coach

A few short years ago, Mike Boynton was fired from his first head coaching gig. But now, Boynton is set to lead the Michigan program with a national title ring on his finger.

Michigan coach Dusty May took the vacant Dallas Mavericks job on Monday. That has led to Michigan promoting Boynton, May’s lead assistant the past two seasons, to becoming the interim head coach, according to multiple reports.

May hired Boynton following his firing in Stillwater, tabbing him as the Wolverines’ defensive coordinator. En route to winning a national title this past season, Michigan had the best defense in the country, according to KenPom. In Boynton’s first season in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines’ defense ranked 12th nationally in defense.

Boynton’s phoenix-esque rise won’t come as a surprise to many who were around him in Stillwater. He seemed destined to succeed.

Boynton was the head coach at Oklahoma State for seven seasons, where he held a 119-109 record with one NCAA Tournament appearance.

His tenure in Stillwater was quite the rollercoaster. Shortly after taking the job, the FBI’s probe into college basketball saw one of his assistants get arrested. That cloud and an ensuing NCAA Tournament ban would linger over the program for the next five seasons.

His best year in Stillwater came with the recruitment of top prospect Cade Cunningham, but even that wasn’t so simple. The COVID pandemic made it to where capacity crowds weren’t allowed to see Boynton’s most talented team. Still, OSU climbed as high at No. 11 in the AP Poll that year and Cunningham went on to become the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.

OSU served that tournament ban the next season (five years later) before the Cowboys went a combined 32-36 over Boynton’s final two years as head coach.

Boynton’s defensive acumen showed itself in Stillwater, as well. Despite the teams not being world beaters, the Cowboys finished in the Top 20 of KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency three times in the seven seasons under Boynton, peaking at No. 4 in the 2021-22 season.

Even when Boynton was let go, there were few who spoke ill of the coach because of how well he handled himself. This feels like an example of good things happening to good people.