Coaching History
Boylen began his coaching career as an assistant under legendary Michigan State head coach Jud Heathcote. He would stay there from 1987 to 1992 before accepting a position with the NBA's Houston Rockets. As an assistant coach with the Rockets, Boylen would go on to win two NBA Championships and helped coach both Hakeem Olajuwon and Yao Ming. After his 11 year stint with Houston, Boylen became an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors and then the Milwaukee Bucks. After 13 years of coaching in the NBA, he returned to Michigan State as an assistant with the Spartans, in part because he wanted to tend to his ill father. As Izzo's top assistant, he helped lead Michigan State to a 45–23 record in two years, including two NCAA appearances.
In his first season, Boylen brought more consistency to the Utes, guiding them to their first winning record in two years and their first postseason berth since reaching the NCAA Tournament in 2005. While there were some struggles, including two losses to BYU for the second consecutive year, Utah did manage to beat instate rival Utah State soundly and earned a surprising victory on the road at Cal. The Utes also stunned New Mexico in the first round of the 2008 Mountain West Tournament, all but killing the Lobos chances of gaining an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Boylen's Utes finished his inaugural season with an 18–15 mark, defeating UTEP in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational before losing to eventual champion Tulsa.
In his second season, Boylen turned the Utes into Mountain West Conference champions, guiding them to a 21–9 regular season record (12–4 in the Mountain West) and winning the conference tournament. The Utes were then given a 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament but were upset by a University of Arizona squad with two future NBA players (#8 pick Jordan Hill and second-round pick Chase Budinger)
After graduating several key players from 2008-09 team, Utah struggled in Boylen's third season, regressing to a losing record and finishing in the bottom-half of the Mountain West Conference. Their 17 losses marks their second worst total in the last 20 years – with only the 2007 Utes having more on the season.
In Boylen's fourth season, the Utes went 13-18. The program fired him on March 12, 2011.
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