4 Takeaways From Mike Boynton Jr.'s First Press Conference as Michigan's Head Coach

After Michigan basketball hired Mike Boynton Jr., he had his first presser of the season on Tuesday. Here are some interesting nuggets.

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Since becoming the new head coach for Michigan men's basketball, Mike Boynton Jr. had his first official press conference on Tuesday. Boynton Jr. has had appearances on podcasts recently, but this was the first time that he sat in front of the media and answered questions about the new Wolverines' roster.

Here are a few takeaways from his press conference.

Boynton Jr. has no concerns over his contract, Warde Manuel's departure

Quote: "I don't make anything of it," Boynton Jr. said of his contract. "I signed a contract that I read over, I felt comfortable with it. And what I'm focused on is this team and the opportunity we have to try to build another championship-type of season. This job should have high expectations.

Quote: "I don't think one has anything to do with the other, in all honesty," Boynton Jr. said of Manuel's departure. "We'll be in the middle of our season. It's not like we're going to cancel games depending on who comes in or anything like that. It matters a lot more to the outside than it does to us on the inside."

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Takeaway: Warde Manuel will depart as Michigan's Athletic Director after the calendar year, and he is the one who made the hire of Boynton Jr. In fact, Manuel immediately placed an interim tag on Boynton Jr. once Dusty May left for the Dallas Mavericks.

And while it was Manuel who made the call to hire Boynton Jr. in a permanent capacity, the two sides agreed on a two-year deal with some heavy benchmarks that need to be fulfilled to even see a second year. Boynton Jr. will have to have the Wolverines extremely competitive in Year 1 to see the light of day, but with the roster assembled, Boynton Jr. doesn't appear to be too concerned with his contract.

Winning cures all, and with the staff he is going to assemble, along with the roster, Boynton Jr. feels like Michigan has the talent to compete once again.

Brandon McCoy Jr. continues to get talked up

Quote: "I think Brandon's going to have a big role for us this year. I expect him to. He's working really, really hard," said Boynton Jr. "He's probably different in terms of the collective skill and athleticism that he has, different than anybody we've had the last two years, to be honest. Just the size. He's 6'6".

"He's got a 7-foot wingspan. He rebounds it as well as anybody that we've probably coached here other than Morez in the last two years. But he's a guard, so it'll look different. He's really smart. He's competitive. He's not selfish. And he's a winner."

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Takeaway: Brandon McCoy Jr. was a late addition to Michigan's recruiting class, committing on live TV during the Wolverines' beatdown of Arizona in the Final Four. Once Dusty May left Michigan, there was initial concern about McCoy Jr. leaving.

But that obviously didn't happen, and he is in line for a major season. We already knew he was a good defender and someone who can create his own shot. But hearing Boynton Jr. talk about his rebounding skills and the other things he can do fits perfectly at Michigan.

The Wolverines have been an unselfish team under May, and the expectation is that it's not going to change with Boynton Jr. running the program. If Michigan can get McCoy Jr. to come in and play to his role, such as McKenney did a year ago, that would be big for the Wolverines' success this year.

Even if he starts, McCoy Jr. likely won't play as big of a role with two elite guards in the backcourt. Which is where doing the small things, like rebounds and playing defense, comes into play.

Transfer Jalen Reed is slowly getting back into game form

Quote: "Jalen Reed is going to go non-contact today for the first time since he's been here," Boynton Jr. said. "So that's a positive development for us. And we hope because he's going to provide us some depth inside and certainly another experienced guy where we don't necessarily have a ton of experience. Guys who've played a lot of college basketball games, I saw those top four that we talked about earlier."

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Takeaway: Michigan signed three transfer big men this offseason, with J.P. Estrella and Moustapha Thiam being big fish, but LSU transfer Jalen Reed is expected to carve out a major role, coming off the bench and playing in a variety of roles.

But he has to get there first. It's been a slow development for Reed, who suffered season-ending injuries in back-to-back years. Michigan is quite thin in its frontcourt after Estrella and Thiam, and if Reed can't get on the court right away, the Wolverines are going to need other players to emerge.

Incoming freshman Quinn Costello could fill that role, someone who Boynton Jr. recently said was going to play a bigger role than some might have anticipated. It could ultimately take weeks into the season before Reed is game-ready and the Wolverines are going to need a game plan.

Mike Boynton Jr. isn't showing his hand

Quote: "I don't know if I've really thought about it from that perspective," Boynton Jr. said of playing big lineups. "I'm aware that the bigger teams have been more successful recently. But this thing cycles. But we have the potential to be big.

"We can still play a variety of ways. So we'll see again how this team evolves over the summer and into the fall. And then we'll put the best groupings of guys out there that we can to give us the best chance to win each night."

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Takeaway: During his press conference, Mike Boynton Jr. doubled down twice when asked about play style. Ultimately, he isn't likely to make wholesale changes to Michigan's offense, given how successful the Wolverines have been the past two seasons under Dusty May.

But playing big lineups was a staple of May. Two seasons ago, it was Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin, and last year May had Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson, and Aday Mara on the court. Going into this season, we know Michigan is going to start J.P. Estrella and Moustapha Thiam down low.

The Wolverines could opt to start Brandon McCoy Jr. at the '3', giving Michigan more of a three-guard look instead of that forward type at the wing. Boynton Jr. also said earlier in his press conference that each team takes on its own personality in terms of what the scheme is going to look like.

Michigan is headed to Europe later to play some exhibition games, and we might learn more about what the Wolverines are going to look like offensively this fall.