Boals landed his first coaching job as an assistant coach at his alma mater after graduating. He then took an assistant coaching job at the University of Charleston in West Virginia, where he stayed for three seasons before joining Marshall as an assistant coach from 1999 to 2003. Boals returned to Charleston as the associate head coach, for one season before jumping back to the Division I ranks with Robert Morris, then to Akron.[5] He joined the coaching staff of Ohio State in 2009, led by Thad Matta, where he was a part of three Big Ten Conference regular-season titles, four NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances, an Elite Eight, and a Final Four appearance in 2012.[6] The Buckeyes' record was 193–62 with Boals as assistant coach. Boals recruited players such as D'Angelo Russell and Jared Sullinger to play for Ohio State.[7]
Stony Brook
On April 8, 2016, Boals was named the 11th head coach in Stony Brook men's basketball history, and its third since moving to Division I.[6] In Boals' first season as head coach, the Seawolves finished 18–14 (12–4), second in the America East Conference.[8] Boals led the Seawolves to their first 20-win season under his tenure in 2018–19 after which they earned a bid to the CBI.
Ohio
On March 17, 2019, Boals resigned from Stony Brook to accept a head coaching position at his alma mater, Ohio University.[9] Boals' contract with Ohio is for five years, with a $581,100 yearly salary.[10] The Bobcats went 17–15 in Boals first season with Ohio. Following the 2019–2020 season, the MAC tournament was cancelled due to the start of the coronavirus pandemic.[11] The next season Boals lead his 2020–21 team to a 17–8 record including 3 wins in the MAC tournament. They received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 13 seed in the West region. There they upset No. 4-seeded Virginia in the first round[12] before falling to No. 5-seeded Creighton in the second round.[13][14] The Bobcats were led in the tournament by their point guardJason Preston who declared for the NBA draft where he was the 33rd pick and acquired by the Los Angeles Clippers[15][16] His 2021–22 team opened with a school best 19-3 record but struggled down the stretch to finish 25–10.[17] His 2022-23 team had a lot of roster turnover and slipped to 19–14.[18] His 2023-24 team finished 20–13.[19]
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
Conference regular season champion
Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion
Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion
*Boals left for Ohio prior to the 2019 CBI and did not coach in the Seawolves' games. ** MAC tournament had to stop due to COVID-19 pandemic.[20]