Diary Series: Nick Bennett, Asst. Coach - UTPA

Teaching toughness is something that must be done each and every day with your players and instilled from the start of the recruiting process to the end of their careers.  It’s a mindset that doing things the ‘right way’ not the easy or ‘tough looking’ way will be done.  Some of the toughest people I’ve ever met are the quietest people in the room.  Some of the toughest people I’ve ever met are physically weak.  Some of the toughest people I’ve ever met are old and at the end of their lives.  Some of the toughest people I’ve ever met inspire me through absolutely nothing that has to do with sports.  Too often, I included, we don’t stop and think about what is ‘Real Toughness.’       

I was reminded of this while watching ‘Real Sports’ on HBO with the special about Brad Stevens.  I was watching with someone who doesn’t follow sports virtually at all.  She did work in the White House for five years under both President George W. Bush and Barack Obama, so saying she doesn’t understand toughness would be laughable.  One of the Butler players interviewed talked about how Coach Stevens always tells his players to play with moxie.  As soon as the segment was done she turned to me and asked, “What is Moxie?”  I looked back at her and said, “That’s a great question.”

I gave it a lot of thought because I’ve heard the term moxie used many times in my life and I think it is an important concept for athlete’s to understand when playing the game.  I’m sure everyone in the sports world has heard it as well.  But, just because we hear something doesn’t mean we know what it means.  So, I asked myself again, ‘What is Moxie?’  My father described moxie as, “A look in your eye, and a fire in your belly.”  Maybe Coach Stevens has a completely different feeling on what moxie is.  When looked up in the dictionary, they give three interpretations of moxie as follows:                                                  

1. vigor; verve.  2. courage and aggressiveness; nerve. 3. skill; know-how.

When I watch Butler play I think of a team that doesn’t do a lot of boasting, taunting, or dirty play.  Yet, who doesn’t consider Butler one of the absolute toughest team’s around?  To me, that’s moxie.  We just played Ohio State last week.  Aaron Craft is a coach on the court.  He was constantly talking; not one word was said to a player on our team.  He was giving encouragement, criticism, instruction, and leadership to his team.  To me, that’s moxie. 

I am not trying to get anything started with this article, but I really wish the Xavier and Cincinnati players would evaluate what the word ‘Moxie’ means to them.  It would be sad for anyone who watched that game to think what Yancy Gates did was tough or to think Tu Holloway (who I think is the best guard in the country on the court) showed moxie with his post game comments. But Xavier and Cincinnati are most definitely not the only two teams that could use a course on moxie.  I know our squad down here at UTPA could use an update on what it means to them.   

The heart of the season is right around the corner as conference games are rapidly approaching and right now is when teams separate themselves in to contenders.  Often it doesn’t come down to who has the most talent, the top recruiting class, or best record at this point.  It is now about who has the resolve and moxie to control what they can control.  Don’t worry about outside sources trying to pull you in a thousand different directions.  Again, control what you can control.  Control boxing out strong and finishing each possession.  Control being strong with the ball and not having foolish turnovers.  Control listening during scouting reports and knowing what the game plan is.  Most importantly, control playing the game the right way with ‘Moxie.’  That way, win or lose, you can walk off the court knowing you gave it your absolute best, and then you can live with it.

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