Now that Mike Boynton is Michigan's head coach, how does he keep the job?

Mike Boynton got himself the Michigan basketball head coaching job following the departure of Dusty May. Now, what does he have to do to keep it?

That's the most interesting question facing Michigan basketball this season. What the Wolverines achieve as the defending national champions and how it looks will have a major impact on whether the two-year deal for Boynton ends after one season with his termination or extension.

It can really only go one of two ways. Boynton can't go into the 2027-28 season without a new deal, and Michigan can't have another season without a known, long-term option at head coach.

This short-term fix is just that: a short-term fix. It was a wise move by Warde Manuel, even though he might not have a job much longer, but it allows Michigan to evaluate Boynton in a real sense this season, and his ability to recruit without the interim tag making it that much harder.

Recruiting and building a staff are secondary to what happens this season. If Michigan struggles to make the NCAA Tournament or isn't a top-25 team, that probably will mean the Wolverines will have a new head coach, something Boynton understood when he accepted the job.

"He knows that this upcoming season Michigan needs to be in the conversation as a top-10, top-15 team pretty consistently," Matt Norlander said via The Wolverine.

The pressure is on Mike Boynton to keep Michigan basketball elite

The consensus is that Boynton has one of the best rosters in college basketball. He also has seven seasons of high-major experience with Oklahoma State. The Cowboys made one NCAA Tournament appearance, but won 20 games three different times.

Boynton also coached three top-20 defenses, with Kenpom, and Coached a Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, on top of signing Cade Cunningham, a future No. 1 pick.

Boynton can recruit. He can coach defense. That should be enough right there for him to do a solid job with the Wolverines. He has hired Mike Martin from Brown, formerly the head coach there, to run the offense. He won 171 games with Brown and had some really good defenses, too.

The starting five is as good as any in college basketball, at least as good as any in the Big Ten. Boynton needs to have a top-25 team, probably a 4/5 seed, and play well in the Big Ten.

Those are reasonable goals, and if they are achieved with this roster, Boynton might get a real chance, with a real contract, to show what he can do as Michigan basketball head coach.

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