The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546678
42 THE WOLVERINE ❱ OCTOBER 2026 BY CHRIS BALAS F ollowing a national championship season in which Michigan lost only three games and dominated the compe- tition in the NCAA Tournament, many pundits believed the Wolverines were set up for great success under coach Dusty May. We were among them, understand- ing that while the Wolverines might never field a team as good as this one again in our lifetimes, they still had plenty of tal- ent coming in for 2026-27. But then the Dallas Mavericks came calling, and May was off to the NBA. Head assistant Mike Boynton Jr. was promoted, did a masterful job keeping most of the roster together (only losing guard L.J. Ca- son to Miami), and finally got a chance this summer to relax a bit after signing a two-year deal to lead the program. It was only then that he could truly ap- preciate what they'd accomplished. "I'll be honest … just as the summer was getting here, late May to early June when we were starting to feel it and the guys were getting here, saying, 'now we'll be able to kick back and just kind of re- flect,' that's obviously when the Dusty deal happened. So, it was, 'nope … not yet,'" Boynton quipped. But after a three-game exhibition trip to Europe in which the Wolverines lost freshman Brandon McCoy for the season to a knee injury but also gained valuable experience for their new players, Boynton and the team finally got to revel in their success a bit. May and all the members of the 2025-26 national championship squad reunited for Michigan-Oklahoma football weekend Sept. 12, where they got their rings (three of them, one each for Big Ten Tournament title, Final Four and na- tional championship). Former U-M wing Duncan Robinson even brought some of his Detroit Pistons teammates to scrim- mage the Wolverines, with some of the national champions partaking. The team was then honored during the football game with the Sooners, capping an outstanding weekend. "It was a blast, a great weekend all around," Boynton recalled. "Some of the guys [from last year's team] even stepped in to play some ball, we had some recruits in. It was busy and a little chaotic, but it was all good. "It's going to be hard for us to find [an- other team like that]. Obviously, they are the most likeable guys, too. Sometimes you get a group so talented and they have arrogance, rub people the wrong way. We just had really good dudes, guys we en- joyed being around. They embraced what it means to be here, all of it." READY TO RUN IT BACK May, Boynton and Co. set out to create another team in that image, and they used the portal and the prep ranks to get there. Boynton now takes over with high hopes, and he'll enter his eighth year as a head coach — his first at Michigan — having gained valuable experience at Oklahoma State before joining May and his staff. Always known as an outstanding de- fensive coach and one of the primary ar- chitects of last year's incredible defense, he now has two years of experience under one of the best college coaches in recent history to help him. He feels much better prepared for this experience than his last. "I've reflected on this, just trying to prepare myself in case I was afforded another opportunity [as a head coach]," Boynton said when asked what he's learned. "The first thing is, the strength of your staff really sets your floor as a head coach. Your players set your ceiling, but the strength of your staff sets your floor. I believe that wholeheartedly, and we have a tremendous staff." That includes holdovers in Kyle Church, Akeem Miskdeen, and KT Harrell in addi- tion to new additions Dylan Murphy (from the G-League) and Mike Martin (Brown). All of them learned a lot about this team in Europe, Boynton said … specifically, while the new players will play huge roles, the backcourt of Elliot Cadeau and Trey McK- enney will set the tone. What Boynton learned most overseas is this team can really shoot, and that the Wolverines should be a good offensive rebounding team. "Of our three teams so far, this may be the best collective shooting group we've had," Boynton said. "We've had really good shooters like Nimari Burnett and Will Tschetter, but we just didn't have a lot of elite shooting from a three-point standpoint. We were certainly efficient with what we did, but I think this team can be a high-volume, high-efficiency three-point shooting team." More than anything, he said, they have a group of guys who "really care about winning for Michigan." "These dudes compete. They know what this is about," Boynton said. "They understand the gravity of what our pro- gram is. I think you'll see a team that plays really, really hard every night. "We're going to be competitive, a Big Ten championship-contending program because we're going to show up every day with the mindset of that's what we're working toward. We're all going to sac- rifice, and we're going to then pass that message along not by what we say, but how we work for our players … how we're committed to finding answers and solu- tions to things that come up throughout the year." ❱ MICHIGAN BASKETBALL Michigan Still Has A Bright Future, And Recruits Are Noticing Senior guard Elliot Cadeau will be counted on to deliver plenty of offense and leadership to the Wolverines in 2026-27. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL