29-01-2025
Long time head coach John Cook announces retirement
Long time head coach John Cook announces retirement
After 25 years, Nebraska's volleyball head coach, John Cook, announced he is retiring. Cook concludes his tenure at Nebraska with four national championships and more match wins than any Division I volleyball coach this century.
Cook spent 32 years as a college head coach, coaching Wisconsin for seven years before joining Nebraska at the turn of the century. He replaced legendary coach Terry Pettit. Cook built upon Pettit's tenure, guiding the Huskers to four national championships, 12 NCAA Semifinals appearances, nine Big 12 titles and five Big Ten titles.
Cook also finished with a career record of 883-176, the fifth-best winning percentage (.834) all-time for a Division I volleyball coach. He retires from Nebraska with a 722-103 as a Husker, the best winning percentage (.875) for any DI program over the last 25 years.
He produced numerous individual honors, including five Olympians, a Honda-Broderick Cup winner, three AVCA Division I National Players of the Year, 72 AVCA All-Americans, three Academic All-Americans of the Year, 25 Academic All-Americans and 10 conference players of the year.
Former Husker Dani Busboom Kelly will take Cook's place as head coach, following an eight-year stretch in Louisville. A Husker national champion, Busboom Kelly led the Cardinals to two NCAA Championship appearances, three NCAA Semifinals, five regional finals and four ACC titles.
Busboom Kelly is a two-time national champion at Nebraska, being libero on the Huskers' 2006 national championship team and an assistant coach in Nebraska's 2015 national championship run. She then took the helm at Louisville late in 2016 after being named AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year.
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