Quality, quickness and quantity. It’s called Q3. It can be seen on the Marquette men’s soccer team’s warm-up jerseys before each game at Valley Fields.
The motto has been in head coach Louis Bennett’s repertoire for a long time, including while he was the head coach at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, but it came to fruition here at Marquette.
“When I came to Marquette, I had a chance to review everything I did,” Bennett said. “I could keep the things that I thought might be applicable, even if it meant not being immediately successful.”
Each element of Q3 has its own process.
“We’ve got to start with quality,” Bennett said. “Then when we can get good quality, can we do things quickly? Can we erase people from the equation by playing with quality and (quickness)?”
If Bennett sees a player lacking in one of the three Qs, he said he doesn’t hesitate to call a player out for it.
“When the guys come to practice, I (occasionally) wave to them to play quicker or with more quality,” Bennett said. “I say ‘C’mon man, it’s right there on your chest!’”
Bennett said many people throughout his life have inspired his coaching philosophies. His biggest inspiration, however, came from his soccer coach when he was just 17 years old.
“I found an old notebook and saw some of the philosophies he had,” Bennett said. “Subliminally, I had taken some of (those philosophies) on board. Even though it wasn’t verbatim, it was definitely a feel.”
Q3 is currently on the front of their warm-up jerseys. It was previously on other parts of the team’s gear. Bennett’s inspiration to make the decision came from a professional soccer team in the Premier League.
“The ‘O2’ on the Arsenal Jersey gave it a little bit of flavor,” Bennett said. “For us, it’s only on our practice and warm-up jerseys, but it’s a nice little thing, and it’s a nice little reminder (for the players).”
Bennett said quantity has been the most difficult “Q” for players to attain throughout his coaching career.
“You get days where you’ve got quality, and you get the days where you can do things really quickly,” Bennett said. “But then you get the next day, and it’s like, ‘Whoa, I’ve got to work a lot harder to do it every single time.’”
Senior forwards Josh Coan and Connor Alba said they each embrace quality the most and agreed quantity can be quite difficult.
“The one I try to focus on the most is quality,” Coan said. “Doing it well is something I consistently strive to improve the most.”
“The hardest progression is quantity,” Alba said. “That’s probably the hardest thing to do in soccer.”
Coan said he was introduced to the concept of Q3 quickly after he transferred from Pittsburgh to Marquette, but it didn’t quite resonate with him right away.
“Initially when I first showed up, I thought it meant Qdoba,” Coan said. “Once I understood what it stood for, it made a lot more sense than just Qdoba.”
For Coan, Q3 has helped him generate a career year so far in 2019. His three goals on the season already match his total from last season.
“As a forward, I try to think of it in terms of goal scoring or creating chances,” Coan said. “In practice, you do a lot of repetition on those types of things. The work that you put in with the three Qs correlates right into games.”
The head coach said every realm of soccer has its own excellent players who exemplify Q3. Bennett labeled senior midfielder Luka Prpa as Marquette’s own example of what Q3 is all about.
“When you look at Luka Prpa turning out of pressure, it’s a thing of beauty,” Bennett said. “You can say, ‘Wow, he did that with great quality but also quick. That’s what Q3 is.”
The Q3 process is different for everyone, but Bennett said he knows the philosophy is worth the players’ time and effort.
“When you’re at Marquette, you have to buy into what we’re doing,” Bennett said. “I don’t hammer anything home that I don’t think is worthy of (the players’) attention or my attention.”
One of the most unique aspects of Q3 is its ability to be applied beyond the soccer field.
“You can take it into any profession you go into,” Alba said. “You always want to do things with quality, and that speaks volumes with what we’re trying to do here at Marquette.”
Bennett said he is not expecting the Q3 motto to go away any time soon.
“Maybe I should copyright it,” Bennett said. “We’ve got a big law school, maybe they can help.”
