John Beilein on Michigan coach Dusty May: 'I'm extremely optimistic ... he's got a presence about him that makes people excited'
Michigan athletics booster Matt Lester hosted head coach Dusty May and the Wolverines basketball staff for a retreat at his farm in Charlevoix, Mich. this month. The group was joined by a special guest, former Michigan head coach John Beilein, the winningest head coach in program history who owns a home in the nearby Petoskey Area.
Beilein shared some words of wisdom on team building and culture to the new-look staff that’s entering its first season in Ann Arbor.
“They spent a couple days up there, so they asked me to come in and spend a few hours with them,” Beilein, 71, said on The HUGE Show. “I just talked to them about no X’s and O’s. I give this speech where I learned more in my last 10 years of coaching than I did in my first 35 combined.
“It was so much about prioritizing culture, prioritizing leadership, doing all those things. So I talked to them about that, and what turned things around for them at Michigan so we could go to five out of seven Sweet 16s and a couple Final Fours and win four league championships.
“I just wanted to share it with them, because it wasn’t easy to do, to turn it around. They have a tough task. The Big Ten is a ‘Big 18’ or whatever it is right now. It’s gonna be tough for him.”
Beilein’s message was centered around prioritizing relationships between the players and staff, “embracing adversity” and carrying a “growth mindset.”
“You’re just going to learn from every single day, every single practice, every game — and that’s how you get better,” Beilein noted.
Beilein was part of the hiring process that brought May from Florida Atlantic to Michigan. He joined Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for part of May’s interview. Beilein was impressed by what he heard from May there and what he gathered from mutual friends.
“I’m extremely optimistic,” Beilein said of the new Michigan coach. “I’m very optimistic about what he’s going to do.
“Before Warde Manuel hired him, I was called in to just do some questions with him. I asked him seven or eight questions, and he nailed every single one.
“He’s got a presence about him that makes people excited to root for him, to play for him, to work side by side with him. And that energy is contagious. [Former Michigan forward] Moe Wagner was like that as a player. Everywhere you went, he brought this presence, this energy, this positive attitude. I feel this same thing as a coach with Dusty.
“I’d want to play for him or I’d want to be an assistant coach or I’d want to be in the stands rooting for him.”
Beilein believes he’s put together a strong staff.
“I really like his staff,” Beilein said. “Some of them came from Florida Atlantic. Young, energetic. I’m telling you — I know it.
“I spoke with 12 people. I spoke for 45 minutes, and I didn’t lose attention one time from one guy. They were on it. They wanted to get better. It wasn’t like, ‘Hey, here’s the old guy coming in to talk to us about culture and leadership. It’s boring.’ No, they were on it. They realized this is important. You can’t do anything without that type of environment.”
Michigan brought in six transfers this offseason, including graduate center Vladislav Goldin, who starred for May and Co. at Florida Atlantic, helping lead the team to the 2023 Final Four.
“You know what, he was going to have a lot of choices now — choices as far as other programs that he could’ve gone to,” Beilein said of May. “One of the assistant coaches when he was at Florida played for me, [current Radford head coach] Darris Nichols, so he was always following us. And he loves the Michigan brand. He grew up liking [legendary Michigan football coach] Bo Schembechler.
“And he put this roster together … now you never know. Some of my highest-rated recruits turned out to be the biggest disappointments, and some of the ones that we just got to fill the roster turned out to be pleasant surprises.
“So you never know, but I think he’s got a sort of mature team with him. He’s got a few guys back, but he’s got a mature team with these transfers. And most importantly, the one big kid that came in [Goldin], that’s going to be really important for him, that he’s got a guy that can show them the culture that made Florida Atlantic so good.”
Beilein is “working on” agreeing to terms with the Big Ten Network to continue as a college basketball analyst for the 2024-25 season. He’s also slated to appear on The HUGE Show Tuesdays beginning in October for a ‘Talking Hoops’ segment presented by renowned accounting and investment firm Doeren Mayhew. Beilein also serves as an advisor for University of Michigan Medicine.
