If Mike Boynton Jr. is going to get the full two-year, $7.6 million contract he agreed to as Michigan basketball’s head coach, he’s going to have to earn it.
That’s because only the first year of his deal is guaranteed and there are certain criteria he’ll need to meet to get a second year, according to contract details obtained by The Detroit News through an open-records request.
Boynton, 44, will receive $3.6 million in the first year of the deal, which runs through April 30, 2027. He’s set to make $4 million the following year, as long as he satisfies several academic, compliance and team performance marks.
According to the employment agreement, there are three academic and compliance criteria he must meet this season: No Level I or Level II NCAA violations, no material misconduct or violations of university policies or rules, and all the players on the basketball team must be academically eligible.
Then there are at least two benchmarks Boynton will need to hit relating to the team’s success: 24 regular-season wins, a top-four finish in the Big Ten standings, a conference tournament title, and/or a Sweet 16 appearance. If Michigan reaches the Final Four, that alone would suffice.
Structuring Boynton’s contract in such a way is something athletic director Warde Manuel has done before. When Manuel was UConn’s AD, he hired assistant Kevin Ollie on a one-year, prove-it deal after head coach Jim Calhoun stepped down before the start of the 2012-13 season.
“The contract is one that really gives (Boynton) an opportunity to showcase and show what he can do,” Manuel said on WTKA’s “The Michigan Insider” this week. “It gives the ability for him to earn that extra year and maybe another contract is what I told him. … I did a similar thing with Kevin Ollie by giving him a one-year contract. And then by December I gave him a full contract, and then another a year later when he wins the national title.
“I believe in Mike. The contract was written in a way to show that I believe in Mike, but to also showcase his ability to earn it long term and not just sort of step into the seat. And I believe he will, personally.”
Boynton, who was a former head coach at Oklahoma State, served as the top assistant on Dusty May’s staff the past two years. When May left for the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks on June 22, Boynton was named interim head coach on June 23 and promoted to the full-time head coach last week.
Boynton signed the deal on July 8, a day before Manuel and president Domenico Grasso, and received a signing bonus of $250,000 “in recognition of his efforts while serving in an interim head coaching capacity,” per the contract. In the wake of May’s departure, Boynton retained most of the roster and lost only one player — junior guard L.J. Cason — to the transfer portal.
The buyout language is dense, but if Boynton is fired without cause before he finishes the first year of his contract, the university would pay him $3 million minus whatever he’s already been paid. If he’s fired without cause during the second year, he’d be paid the remainder of his salary. And if he’s fired without cause after meeting the criteria for a second season during or at the end of the first year, he’d be owed $4 million.
In addition to his base pay, Boynton has numerous bonus opportunities, including $50,000 for earning a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship, $100,000 for winning the league title outright and $100,000 for winning the Big Ten tournament.
Boynton would get $50,000 if named the Big Ten Coach of the Year and $50,000 for national coach of the year. He’d also receive a non-cumulative NCAA Tournament-related bonus, ranging from $100,000 for a second-round appearance to $1.5 million for winning the national title.
Prior to arriving in Ann Arbor, Boynton was head coach at Oklahoma State for seven seasons before he was fired in March 2024. During his tenure from 2017-24, the Cowboys went 119-109 and made one NCAA Tournament in 2021, when they were led by top recruit and current Pistons star Cade Cunningham.
However, Boynton had to deal with NCAA penalties stemming from a previous regime with the Cowboys, including reduced scholarships and other recruiting restrictions for three seasons as well as a postseason ban in 2022.
At Michigan, Boynton has been the defensive coordinator and a top recruiter who’s played an integral role in the program’s return to national prominence in the last two years. During this past season’s historic campaign, the Wolverines finished No. 1 in KenPom’s defensive efficiency, set a program record with 37 wins, set a Big Ten record with 19 conference victories, won the Big Ten regular-season championship by four games and captured Michigan’s first national title in 37 years.
“I’m grateful to Warde for his confidence and thankful for the opportunity to lead this program,” Boynton said in a statement when he was officially named head coach. “We have built a championship culture and a standard that everyone associated with this program takes great pride in.
“We have an outstanding group of players, and I’m excited to get to work and continue the success we’ve established together.”
jhawkins@detroitnews.com
@jamesbhawkins
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Here are contract details for Michigan basketball coach Mike Boynton Jr.
Reporting by James Hawkins, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By James Hawkins, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
