With Dusty May's departure, Michigan continues paying steep price for its championship era

For the second time in the past three seasons, Michigan will have both a new football coach and men's basketball coach in the same academic year as chaos and elite-level success continue to arrive in tandem for the Wolverines.

Monday's bombshell that Dusty May is leaving to coach the Dallas Mavericks less than three months after guiding Michigan to the 2026 national title is only the latest high-profile coaching plot twist for the Wolverines.

Now in his 11th season, athletic director Warde Manuel has overseen trips to the mountaintop, slogs through the valleys of scandal and a couple of unprecedented coaching departures.

Not since Larry Brown left Kansas for the Spurs in 1988 had the head coach of a national-title-winning college basketball or college football program left for another coaching gig.

Why Dusty May leaving Michigan and college basketball behind in June isn't remotely surprising

Matt Norlander

Then Jim Harbaugh did it in 2024, when he left to coach the Los Angeles Chargers after guiding Michigan to a College Football Playoff championship. Now, just two and a half years later, May is taking the same path by heading to the NBA.

Here is a rundown of the coaching churn that has come to be a defining characteristic of a successful but rarely stable Michigan athletic department.

John Beilein leaves

After 12 seasons and two national-title game appearances with Michigan as part of a college basketball coaching career dating back to the late 1970s, Beilein left to try his hand in the NBA. It turned out to be an ill-fated decision as he lasted just 54 games. The late timing of his departure — six weeks after Michigan's season ended — created the perfect conditions for Michigan to bring home program legend Juwan Howard.

Then a Miami Heat assistant, Howard showed the depth of his passion for the university during a teary-eyed introductory press conference. It was the start of a wild ride.

Jim Harbaugh's wild last dance

Harbaugh's final season at Michigan in 2023 ended with the jubilation of the football program's first national title since 1997. The path to get there was anything but normal, as he served a four-game suspension amid a sign-stealing scandal that engulfed the program, the Big Ten and all of college football.

With sanctions forthcoming from a separate NCAA infractions case related to recruiting violations, Harbaugh jetted for the Los Angeles Chargers just three weeks after Michigan's national title victory. With the Wolverines awaiting NCAA punishment and under heightened scrutiny because of the sign-stealing scandal, Manuel turned inward to find Harbaugh's replacement by promoting offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore.

Juwan Howard's promise flames out

Howard's first team finished 19-12 and would have qualified for the NCAA Tournament had it not been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His second team became the first Michigan team since 1993 to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines reached the 2021 Elite Eight, and everything was pointing up as Howard welcomed the nation's No. 3 ranked recruiting class from the Class of 2021.

After beginning the season at No. 6 in the AP poll, Michigan's 2021-22 season veered off course. The frustrating campaign took a particularly bizarre turn on Feb. 20, 2022, when Howard struck Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft in the postgame handshake line after a 77-63 loss. Michigan did manage to reach the Sweet 16 as a No. 11 seed, but that run marked the end of Howard's success.

Howard's last two teams went 26-40. He was fired in 2024 after an 8-24 campaign and replaced with May, who was on the rise within the profession after leading FAU to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

Sherrone Moore saga

Moore's tenure as Michigan's football coach imploded on Dec. 10, 2025, when he allegedly showed up at the house of a female staff member and threatened her with kitchen utensils. The female staff member alleged that she battled "years of manipulation, harassment, and exploitation" from Moore and that Michigan failed to protect its employee from such actions.

Just over two weeks later, Michigan announced former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham as Moore's successor. Whittingham had resigned from Utah just two days after Moore's arrest.

Former Michigan staffer alleges coercive relationship with Sherrone Moore in interview

Brad Crawford

Dusty May's departure

Compared to the way things ended for other recent Michigan coaches, May's departure was clean and understandable. He'd made his frustrations with the status of college basketball clear in the aftermath of the Wolverines' national title. He wasn't a "Michigan man" who had attended the university or spent 10+ years at the school. He took the Wolverines to the mountaintop in less than two years and then jumped ship to continue a meteoric rise through the profession.

Now, just as they did with May and Moore in the 2024-25 academic year, the Wolverines are starting anew with the coaches of their two most important sports in 2026-27. Whittingham is 66, and May's replacement, Mike Boynton, is only the interim coach for now. The coaching turnover may not be over yet. Is the turmoil?