When Dusty May headed to the Dallas Mavericks last month, Michigan basketball was staring at a messy stretch that could have gone sideways fast. The coach who had just guided the program to its best season ever and its first national title since 1989 was suddenly out the door in late June, after the coaching market had already mostly settled.
Instead, the Wolverines ended up in a much better spot than that kind of shock usually creates, and Warde Manuel deserves credit for that. That’s not a sentence many Michigan fans are used to reading, especially from someone who has been critical of Manuel before, but this was handled well.
The key move came immediately. Manuel named Mike Boynton interim head coach just one day after May’s departure, and that decision bought Michigan precious time. Rather than rushing into a permanent hire and letting the transfer portal open five days later for a full month, the interim setup pushed that window back to July 24 and cut it to 15 days.
That mattered because Boynton had time to work the roster. As things stand, the expectation is that the whole team will stay in Ann Arbor when the portal opens. In a situation where a roster could have blown apart, that extra month made all the difference.
Manuel also gets credit for the way the deal with Boynton was structured. It’s a two-year contract, and according to Jeff Goodman, the second year does not sound fully guaranteed. That may look cautious at first glance, but it’s actually a clean solution for where Michigan was sitting.
The agreement removes the interim label, which Boynton said was creating unnecessary uncertainty and instability, and gives him the full authority of a head coach. That includes recruiting without the asterisk that comes with an interim title.
At the same time, it keeps real pressure on him. He helped hold the roster together, and now he has to win games and make a deep tournament run next season.
If he does, the second year likely kicks in and his standing at Michigan changes. If he doesn’t, the school has room to move on.
That kind of setup is about as low-risk and high-reward as a program can ask for in this spot.
A full external search, meanwhile, was never really practical this late in the offseason. The traditional coaching cycle was already over, which meant most candidates were locked into their current jobs for the upcoming season. Pulling someone away would have been extremely difficult.
Billy Donovan’s name came up, but he was never a realistic target. He has not coached at the college level in more than a decade, and when his name surfaced during North Carolina’s search earlier this year, he never really engaged because the NBA season was still going. After leaving the Chicago Bulls, he has since been hired as the lead assistant for the San Antonio Spurs, which makes it even more likely he would have stayed in the NBA anyway.
Manuel did look around, though. Goodman reported that he spoke with some “big names” before landing on Boynton.
And the alternative would have carried real risk. Bringing in a brand-new coach this late would have given every player a reason to consider leaving, and Michigan could have been scrambling to keep a championship roster together while also introducing a new voice to the locker room.
As it stands, Michigan enters the 2026-27 season in a strong position. The roster and culture appear intact, and Boynton can recruit without his hands tied behind his back.
Manuel didn’t overreact, didn’t chase a splashy name for the sake of optics, and didn’t create extra chaos. He moved quickly, found the right fit for the moment, and set the program up to keep moving forward. That’s a win for Michigan, and it gives Boynton a real chance to prove he should be more than the interim answer.
In Other News...
Michigan Hit With Another Lawsuit As Warde Manuel Pressure Boils Over
The latest off-field headache for Michigan comes from former football assistant Chris Partridge, who has filed a lawsuit against the university, athletic director Warde Manuel, president Santa Ono, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and the Board of Regents. Partridge says he was wrongfully fired during the 2023 season, a move that came after he was accused of discussing the investigation with a player before being cleared, and the filing adds another legal layer to a program that has already spent months dealing with fallout from the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal and the Matt Weiss investigation.
What makes this one especially combustible is the way it keeps the pressure on Manuel at a moment when his future is already under scrutiny. The allegations in the filing have not been proven in court, but they arrive as a Michigan Board of Regents meeting is expected to address Manuels status with the university, turning what might have been a routine governance matter into another flashpoint for a department that has not had much room to breathe. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Fans Have Every Right To Be Frustrated About Jordan Marshall
Michigans backfield did not get much national respect this offseason, with CBS Sports leaving the Wolverines off its top-10 college football running back groups. That omission is easy enough to argue with after Jordan Marshall emerged as Michigans most productive runner in 2025, leading the team in rushing yards and touchdowns while averaging 6.2 yards per carry and drawing a strong overall grade from PFF.
Marshall still enters 2026 as the clear lead option, but the picture around him is shifting. Freshman Savion Hiter adds another layer of talent to the room, and a new offensive coordinator will help shape how Michigan uses its backs, which makes the next step for Marshall and the offense worth watching even if the national rankings have already moved on. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan May Have Found A Crucial Answer At Linebacker
With Michigan moving on from its top three linebackers, the spring spotlight has shifted quickly to the next wave, and Chase Taylor is right in the middle of it. The sophomore, part of the 2025 recruiting class, already saw the field in 10 games last season, and now he is being talked about as one of the players most likely to help stabilize the position as the Wolverines reshape the defense under Jay Hill.
Taylor has been grouped with Troy Bowles and Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng as one of the top three linebackers on the roster this spring, which says plenty about how fast the picture is changing. For Michigan, the appeal is obvious: Taylor brings the size and athleticism coaches want in the middle of the defense, and the question now is how quickly that promise turns into a bigger role when the games start to matter. [Read more 🡒]