Mark Byington sits in his office at the top of Memorial Gymnasium and repeats it eight times throughout his 20-minute interview:

Toughness.

"He's a tough guy," Byington says of Tyler Nickel while echoing similar sentiments about Devin McGlockton, A.J. Hoggard and Chris Mañon.

A complement like that seems to be among the most flattering that Byington can muster in his mind. For the first-year Vanderbilt coach that sentence isn't just filler, it's something that he feels can change outcomes and seasons.

"I always have a philosophy, I think toughness wins," Byington says. "I’m just a huge believer in that our season is long and it's a grind and you better have guys that are capable of mental and physical toughness.

"You kinda just also pick up programs that are successful consistently and I don’t know if you ever look at a program that wins one year and is down the next. But if a program is winning consistently I think you’re also going to say ‘look they play with a high level of toughness and that’s just part of them.’”

Byington lauding the number of guys he did as tough doesn't seem to be a coincidence. If Byington couldn't do that, he'd likely feel as if his group was in trouble.

As a result, Vanderbilt's head coach recruited with toughness in mind and approaches each time on the practice floor with that mindset.

“I think it’s two things, I think you better recruit that way and that’s one side of it and then I think the other thing is its gotta be in your culture and what you do every single day."

That mentality comes with what Byington considers a direct correlation to winning and losing.

"There’s toughness plays that dictate the game and people call them 50/50 balls but if it’s split up and it’s 50/50 there’s a chance you might not win and those ones that are 50/50 in a game that you’re doing well you’re getting 75% of them," Byington says. "No matter what school we’re at we need to play with an edge."

Byington has held his belief in toughness through multiple jobs and over a decades worth of seasons.

The current Vanderbilt coach hesitated when asked about the origins his philosophy, that's because he had to go way back to find them.

“It’s probably the coach I played for in college, Jerry Wainwright," Byington says of where he got his philosophy. "I kinda grew up playing football and it’s kinda just a mentality thing."

The mentality of toughness was almost necessary throughout his time playing quarterback and safety at Salem High School.

Byington's football career went to the wayside in his sophomore year as he sacrificed it in order to pursue his Division-I basketball hopes, though.

"I played football all the way up and I had to try to make a decision which one I wanted to play in college and I decided that basketball was the better fit for me," Byington says. "What I do miss; Friday nights in football for high school football is one of the best feelings you’ve ever had in the world. That was the hardest thing to give up. I didn’t like football Saturday through Thursday, but Fridays I absolutely loved it."

The definition of toughness in Byington's mind hasn't changed courses but has been refined since his days in Salem.

The Vanderbilt coach wants those days in Salem to be reflected in his players on West End.

"Toughness is not something that says ‘alright, we’re just gonna get in a fight and win it’ it’s a guy who can make multiple efforts, it’s a guy who can be good on game number 19 and not just number one or not just the big game against the rival, it’s the guy that’s good all the time," Byington said. "I like it when guys are as nice as they can possibly be and well mannered and polite and everything off the court but on the court you’re gonna feel a bit nasty."