The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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NOVEMBER 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 35 imprint on what we were doing last year. Our culture has stayed the same, and our standard will stay the same, as well." That includes unselfishness, sacri- ficing numbers and stats for team over personal success, and staying positive in tough times. "Dusty said basically every time we huddled up that we had to give ourselves up for the team and the guy next to us," Cadeau continued. "We were very un- selfish because that's the culture that he built, so we definitely want to continue that." Even if they do, there's next to no chance this team wins 37 of 40 games and dominates the Big Ten the way last year's did with a 19-1 conference record. There's talent on this team, starting with the returning backcourt, fifth-year guard Roddy Gayle Jr. (should an injunction al- lowing him to play hold), big men addi- tions JP Estrella and Moustapha Thiam, and a tremendous freshman class. Even with freshman guard Brandon McCoy out for the year with a knee injury sus- tained in an exhibition game overseas, the freshmen have impressed in the early going, led by forward and sniper Quinn Costello. Many are still saying "Final Four ceiling" for this group, which of course would give them a shot at another title. Time will tell. But Boynton has made it clear to them that the only standard they'll be held to is to reach their potential. If they do that, he said, he'll be satis- fied. "It's going to be hard for us to find [another team like that]," Boynton said. "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 re- ally good dudes, guys we enjoyed being around. They embraced what it means to be here, all of it … "The mindset has to be, how does this team create its own legacy? To a certain degree, our jobs are to get people talking less about last year's team and talk more about what this year's team is actually accomplishing." READY FOR A REPEAT RUN He and his staff appear to be well-pre- pared for that, having learned from one of the best and returning several staffers from May's title team. May told us this summer that Kyle Church, his longtime assistant who stayed behind with Boyn- ton, is "one of the top assistant coaches in the country," while Akeem Miskdeen and KT Harrell (promoted from opera- tions) are also back. Ditto Brandon Gil- bert, special assistant to the head coach, and strength coach Matt Aldred and his staff. Former Brown coach Mike Martin and Dylan Murphy, formerly a G League coach in the Orlando Magic organiza- tion, round out what should be a very good staff. It helps, too, that Boynton had previous head coaching experience at Oklahoma State, though he credits May for prepar- ing him even better for his second gig. "I sat next to this genius every day," Boynton said. "I learned how to run a high-functioning corporation and how to identify qualities in people that were specific to our needs as a team, then al- low them to be great in those areas." May was so confident in his people that he was hands-off in several areas, letting them handle their assigned re- sponsibilities. Boynton oversaw the de- fense last year, during which May was maybe on his side of the floor "three or four times" all year during practice. He'll still have a hand in it this year, of course, but Church will be the guy on that end of the floor, while Murphy and Martin work primarily with the offense. Though it's early, Boynton is pleased with the camaraderie and chemistry in the room. "That's why I was so adamant about the type of people I wanted to bring to join the staff," he said. "I'm excited about what we've been able to put together. The most important thing I think I've learned is once you have those people, put them in positions to be really good at their jobs. "I think that was Dusty's real true se- cret sauce. He was confident in himself and had such a low level of ego that he didn't worry about whether someone was going to get credit for an in-game adjustment or whatever. You serve these players and want to win at a high level, and whoever gets credit doesn't mat- ter. He allowed Justin [Joyner, now head coach at Oregon State], myself, and Coach Church to just coach our defense. … He knew what we were doing because obviously, we met every day. "Again, that gives the staff confidence, right? There's a great level of responsi- bility that comes when your boss says, 'You got this.'" Wins and losses matter, of course — getting a second year on his contract lit- erally depends on it given the way it's structured — but there's also a bigger picture, Boynton said. They also want to teach the players how to be good de- cision-makers, show them what work ethic is and how that looks, and how to deal with adversity. Everyone is going to be gunning for them, after all, given what they accom- plished a year ago. "We're going to hear all year we're the defending national champions," Boynton said. "We have a lot of guys who didn't win a national championship on our team this year. So, it's incumbent on us internally to understand that our job is to create our own legacy." But he's confident in the players he and May brought in. TURNING THE PAGE Michigan's 2026-27 Basketball Team Is Ready To Build On National Championship Season 2026-27 BASKETBALL PREVIEW