Nebraska Volleyball coach John Cook announces retirement

Four-time national champion Nebraska Volleyball Head Coach John Cook, who has won more matches than any Division I volleyball coach this century, announced his retirement on Wednesday.

“I’ve been here for 25 years. That’s a long time to do something. It’s been a great run,” Cook said in a press release. “I want to thank my family for their support, and I want to thank Bill Byrne and Terry Pettit for giving me the opportunity to be the Nebraska volleyball coach. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some great coaches and staff over the years, and I’m forever grateful for how hard they worked and for how much they gave to Nebraska volleyball.

In his last press conference on Thursday, Cook summarized his decision as wanting to leave the program in a good spot and leave on a high note.

“I have had more fun coaching the last two years with this group than I can remember coaching. It’s been a blast," Cook said. "I’ve always wanted to go out on top when it's really fun and I'm enjoying a group.”

A press release from Husker Athletics stated Cook spent 32 years as a college head coach, seven at Wisconsin and 25 at Nebraska. Since taking over the program in 2000, Cook guided the Huskers to four national championships, 12 NCAA Semifinals appearances, nine Big 12 titles and five Big Ten titles. He achieved a career record of 883-176 (.834), the fifth-best winning percentage all-time for a Division I volleyball coach. Cook's record of 722-103 at Nebraska is the best winning percentage (.875) for any DI program over the last 25 years.

Watch John Cook explain different offenses in a video from 2005

"For me personally, the greatest accomplishment in coaching is seeing former players go into coaching or other careers and taking the lessons they’ve learned from being a Nebraska volleyball player and applying it to their everyday lives," Cook said in the press release. "There is no greater reward in coaching than that. Lastly and most importantly, I want to thank the fans for always supporting Nebraska volleyball. I’ve always said to ‘Dream Big’, and we’ve dreamed bigger than any volleyball program in the history of the world.”

Shortly after announcing Cook's retirement, Nebraska announced the hire of Dani Busboom Kelly as the next head coach of Nebraska Volleyball.

A Husker national champion player and assistant coach, Busboom Kelly has spent the last eight years as Louisville's head coach. The Cardinals have reached two NCAA Championship matches, three NCAA Semifinals, five regional finals and have won four ACC titles, according to a press release from Nebraska Athletics.

Busboom Kelly has compiled a 203-44 (.822) record in her eight seasons at Louisville, including a 120-15 (.889) mark over the last four years, which is the second-best winning percentage in the country during that span. This past season, the Cardinals reached the NCAA Championship match for the second time in the last three seasons. 

Busboom Kelly was the starting libero on Nebraska’s 2006 national championship team, and an assistant coach when the Huskers won the 2015 national championship in Omaha, according to the press release. She took the helm at Louisville late in 2016 after being named AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year in her final season as a Husker assistant.

A Cortland, Nebraska native, Busboom Kelly agreed to a six-year contract to lead Nebraska. She will be formally introduced as the Huskers’ head coach on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The welcome event will be open to the public, with an introductory press conference to follow.

“The opportunity to come home to Nebraska is more than a dream come true,” Busboom Kelly said in the press release. “I want to thank Troy Dannen, Dr. Jeffrey Gold, and Kristen Brown for their trust in me to continue the legacy of Nebraska volleyball. A huge thank you to John Cook. I would not be here without his mentorship and support. I’ve gotten chills listening to the roars in the Coliseum and now Devaney since I was 9 years old."

With Cook at the helm, Nebraska 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. Nebraska volleyball student-athletes combined for 88 all-conference awards and 155 academic all-conference honors in Cook's program, according to Husker Athletics.

“John Cook leaves a legacy of excellence that places him alongside a very small group of coaches who can be considered the greatest in college athletics history, regardless of sport,” Nebraska Director of Athletics Troy Dannen said in the release announcing Cook's retirement. “John took over one of the nation’s best programs a quarter century ago and elevated it to another level. The national championships, Final Four appearances, conference championships, All-Americans and Olympians speak for themselves, but John’s impact goes beyond the on-court accolades. Behind his vision, Nebraska volleyball has become arguably the most successful women’s program in the country which has helped the sport of volleyball reach a popularity level it has never seen before.” 

When Cook took over the reins of the Nebraska volleyball program in 2000, he replaced one of the sport’s legendary coaches in Terry Pettit, who won 694 matches and guided the Huskers to 18 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and six NCAA Semifinals.

His goals at Nebraska included consistently selling out home matches at the NU Coliseum, expanding the media exposure for his program and continuing the tradition of athletic and academic excellence started by Pettit nearly a quarter of a century earlier. His vision catapulted the program to a new phase in 2013, as the Devaney Center underwent a renovation and became the new home for Nebraska volleyball. Moving to the Devaney Center increased the capacity crowd for Nebraska volleyball matches from 4,125 at the Coliseum to more than 8,300, plus standing room.

Cook played an instrumental role in helping to expand the program’s visibility throughout the state and the Midwest. Nebraska played a regular-season match in North Platte in 2004, and the team played spring exhibition matches in Kearney, Scottsbluff, Ogallala, Wayne, Grand Island, Norfolk and Central City during Cook’s tenure.

In 2023, the Huskers played a volleyball match outdoors, which drew 92,003 people to Memorial Stadium for Volleyball Day in Nebraska on Aug. 30. The event gained worldwide attention as the crowd set a record for the largest to attend a women’s sporting event anywhere in the world. The press release stated the event further cemented Cook's program as the leader in growing the sport. Eleven of the top 12 crowds in NCAA women's volleyball history have been matches featuring Nebraska, all in Cook's tenure.

Under Cook, the program reached the NCAA Semifinals seven times in the last 10 years, including NCAA Championships in 2015 and 2017. The fan support continues to be unrivaled in the sport, as the Huskers have sold out 337 consecutive regular-season matches since 2001, the longest sellout streak in NCAA women’s athletics history. Since the move to the Devaney Center in 2013, the Huskers have led the nation in attendance every season.

Cook was a three-time AVCA National Coach of the Year, earning the prestigious honor in 2000, 2005 and 2023. He is one of only three coaches all-time (Russ Rose and Mary Wise) to be a three-time AVCA National Coach of the Year. Cook was also an eight-time conference coach of the year, including his selection as Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1997 (at Wisconsin), 2016, 2017 and 2023. He was honored in 2008 by USA Volleyball, receiving its All-Time Great Coach Award. In 2017, Cook was inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame, joining Pettit as former Husker head coaches in the hall.

“It is a reflection of Nebraska volleyball and the program, and not about one person or one player,” Cook said when accepting the AVCA Coach of the Year Award in 2005. “We’re trying to be a leader in the sport. We’re trying to take risks and dream big, and fortunately I’m surrounded by a lot of people who have that vision."

Nebraska Public Media's Jordan Howell contributed to this story.