Mike Boynton is still getting his feet under him as Michigan’s head coach, but he just made a hire that tells you a lot about how he wants to run this thing.
The Wolverines are bringing in Mike Martin as an assistant coach. Martin spent the last 14 seasons as the head coach at Brown. That’s not a guy who needs to learn the job on the fly. He knows what it’s like to be the one making the final call.
A veteran voice for a first-time head coach
Martin went 171-202 at Brown, which in the Ivy League is actually a pretty solid run. He won Ivy League Coach of the Year in 2019 after leading the Bears to the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational. And yeah, that’s not the NCAA Tournament, but it’s still a program that had some real moments under him.
Before Brown, Martin was an assistant at Penn. He played at Brown too, so he knows the league from both sides. The man has been coaching since 2004, which means he’s been in the game long enough to have seen about every situation you can walk into.
According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Jeff Borzello, Martin brings a “veteran head coaching presence” to the staff. That phrasing matters. Boynton took over after Dusty May left for the Dallas Mavericks. He’s building his first staff as a head coach at this level, and he clearly wanted someone next to him who’s been through the fire.
Boynton himself was a head coach at Oklahoma State from 2017 to 2024. He’s not raw. But adding another former head coach to the bench gives him a sounding board that most first-time head coaches don’t have. Two guys in the room who’ve been the guy. That’s not nothing.
Head coach to assistant isn’t a step down at Michigan
Some people might look at Martin going from head coach to assistant and think that’s a demotion. But context matters. Michigan just won a national championship. That’s a program that’s going to have everyone’s attention next season, even if the roster looks completely different in 2026.
Martin has never been to the NCAA Tournament. Working with Boynton at Michigan gives him a real shot at that. It’s a chance to be part of a national title defense, however much the roster turns over. That’s not nothing either.
For Boynton, this hire is about stacking the room with people who’ve made decisions under pressure. He knows the expectations at Michigan are brutal. The fanbase isn’t patient. Adding a guy who’s been a head coach for 14 years gives him someone who understands what that pressure feels like.
Martin’s first season at Michigan will be about learning a new program and building trust with players he didn’t recruit. But if you’re looking for a sign that Boynton is thinking long-term about how to build a staff, this is it. He’s not just hiring guys who need a job. He’s hiring guys who’ve already done the job.
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