There are a few familiar faces on this coaching staff
The coaching world, especially at the collegiate level, is all about relationships. In terms of getting jobs, who you know is oftentimes more important than what you know.
When filling out an entirely new coaching staff, conventional wisdom would tell you the easiest way to do it is to fill the staff with guys you know. Friends, familiar faces and mentors you already have relationships.
When filling out his staff, Michigan Wolverines head coach Dusty May isn’t following conventional wisdom to a tee. A few familiar faces followed him from Florida Atlantic to Michigan, but two key assistants — Mike Boynton and Justin Joyner — have never worked with him.
May wanted to make sure he surrounds himself with different perspectives and voices, not just “yes men.”
“I didn’t really want to work with my friends,” May said earlier this week . “My friends know each other, share ideas. I want guys that are going to complement me and my weaknesses, guys that are going to challenge me and players every day, get better, have new ideas.”
When asked about his staff, May stressed the importance of finding good instructors that make all those long road trips more fun. Despite this group of coaches has only been together for a few weeks , they seem to already have a good rhythm going.
“They have to be great teachers,” May continued. “They have to be enjoyable to be around. I’m very pleased with this staff. A recruit said on a visit, ‘It looks like you guys have worked together for months or years.’ And I looked around and saw the chemistry in guys, the relationships already being built, and it’s exciting to see.”
While it’s important to have different voices in the room, familiarity can be crucial in new experiences. That familiarity and past relationships were likely factors into May hiring two former assistants at FAU — Kyle Church as Assistant Coach/General Manager and Drew Williamson as Assistant Coach/Director of Player Development.
When the media asked Church about his relationship with May, the North Carolina native — who has worked with May in 12 of his 14 seasons coaching — spoke highly of May’s drive to improve in all aspects of life.
“Self-reflection, not only as a coach but as a person, just constant longing to improve as a communicator, as a coach, as a person is always something I take away from him,” Church said.
Church also detailed that roles on the staff are to be determined, as the coaches focus on filling the final roster spot. He also clarified while there are logistics to worry about, the staff is tentatively hoping to have the whole group of players together by June 10 for summer workouts.
When asked about why he decided to follow May to U-M, Williamson told Maize n Brew it was a combo of familiarity and the allure of working at a big school with a rich athletic history like Michigan.
“I think it was a little bit of both the opportunity to come to an elite university, but also, getting the chance to work with May the last three years, I’ve learned a lot from him,” Williamson said. “And I think I still have some areas to grow in. He’s just such a good leader and he’s able to make me a little bit better as a coach.”
In college basketball, you are only as good as the people around you and the relationships you build. By the sound of it, the relationships between coaches already appears strong.
“I think you win with good people, and we have that in bunches here,” Joyner said. “When recruits come on campus, when people see us interact, they feel that.”