Good cop, bad cop.

Sometimes, that’s true.

But the relationship between Turgeon and Boyle one that was successful for two seasons at Jacksonville State and is looking good so far after a 5-1 start at WSU is a lot more complex than that.

Boyle did plenty of yelling at Jacksonville State, especially as the Gamecocks went 8-18 their first season there.

“My temper is really one of my weaknesses,” Boyle said.

Hard to believe for Shocker fans, because they haven’t seen it. While Turgeon was blowing a gasket in the Shockers’ loss to Washington on Nov. 30, Boyle looked calm.

“If I’m mad, he’ll stay calm,” Turgeon said. “And if he’s mad, I’ll stay calm. We feed off each other. We had a really tough stretch at Jacksonville State, and we helped each other stay positive.”

That tough stretch included an embarrassing home loss that was televised after which Turgeon, in his own words, “lost it and went off on them pretty good” in the locker room. Two players quit. Turgeon began to doubt himself, until Boyle assured him that his screaming session was completely justified.

“Tad really pulled me through that time,” Turgeon said. “I’m not sure I could have done it without him.”

Perception No. 2: Turgeon and Boyle were best friends and teammates when they played at Kansas, planning to rule the sidelines together one day as Division I coaches.

Not even close.

“We definitely weren’t best friends,” Turgeon said. “Especially that first year, when we were battling for the same spot.”

Boyle was a 6-foot-4 point junior guard when Turgeon arrived on campus as a brace-faced freshman trying to steal his playing time.

The two guarded each other in pickup games. Inevitably, Boyle would use his 6-inch height advantage to post up Turgeon.

As fate would have it, Boyle was moved to a shooting guard and ended up playing with Turgeon on the second team. That’s when their friendship started.

Boyle was a serious student who wanted to be a stockbroker. He did that after college for eight years in his native Colorado. For the last six, he also found time to be a high school basketball coach.

Boyle had never thought about coaching in college until 1994, when Turgeon encouraged him to apply for an assistant’s job at Oregon, where Turgeon was entering his third season under Jerry Green.

Boyle got the job. He was a bachelor and briefly lived with Turgeon and his new bride, Ann, before finding an apartment. Even then, Boyle would be over for dinner three to four times a week.

“I had to teach Tad how to cook,” Turgeon said. “We really took care of him.”

Perception No. 3: Boyle is fiercely loyal to Turgeon, endlessly sells Turgeon to recruits and to fans, and always agrees with Turgeon.

That’s true. Except for the agreeing part.

But that’s another reason why the relationship works. Because they’ve known each other for so long, Boyle has never hesitated to stand up and speak out to Turgeon.

“When you’re an assistant coach,” Boyle said, “who you’re working for is so much more important than where you’re working.”

Boyle turned down the head coaching job at Jacksonville State twice to follow Turgeon to WSU.