Change, many say, is good. But when the change ends a storied coaching career like John Cook‘s, it’s bound to make some hearts quiver. In his tenure of twenty-five years as the head coach of Nebraska volleyball, Coach Cook was the architect of the program’s stellar success. Only recently did the iconic coach announce his plans to leave, with Dani Busboom Kelly as his successor for the Lincoln girls. But how will the future be? Easily, that’s the single most burning question that came to the athletes’ minds first.

A Nebraska alum herself, Busboom Kelly’s coaching skills were cemented during her time with the Louisville Cardinals. And yet, following up on John Cook’s legacy won’t be an easy thing to do, nor will the Huskers find it easy to work with a new boss. Thankfully, Dani isn’t an entirely alien name or character to some of the athletes in the locker room.

Dani Busboom Kelly’s arrival news Nebraska comforted a Nebraska star

An article by Lincoln Journal Star from February 10 revealed how the Huskers’ Rebekah Allick has had previous interactions with the new Nebraska HC. The article quoted the senior volleyball star talking about Dani during a presser from last week. “I also ran into her at a libero camp,” said Allick about why playing side-by-side with the new coach won’t be their first interaction. “She stopped me and said, ‘What are you doing at a libero camp?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know, I want to learn how to play volleyball.’ It was a familiar face, and all I ever heard was great things from her,” the middle blocker said.

It was the familiarity that helped Rebekah to feel somewhat assured to learn about Kelly’s appointment to take over the baton of the program from the former coach. “There was this relief. And she even called us that same day and I told her, ‘I’m happy it’s you’,” the athlete told in the presser. She further noted that the fact that Dani Busboom Kelly is from Nebraska would help her ease into her new role as well.

“She’s played here, she’s from here, and I truly believe that we’re in really good hands,” Rebekah said about how the new coach can handle the high expectations of being a Nebraska volleyball star. But while Allick now feels relaxed about transitioning into the era of Dani Busboom Kelly, it wasn’t always the case.

The initial reaction was all chaos

The athletes had no clue about Cook’s decision. Instead, they thought it would be another routine team meeting when they were told about plans to get everyone together. “We all thought we were gonna get a bump,” Allick said about the trajectory they were on about what felt like a meeting that they thought would talk about “revenue share.” But that wasn’t what it was. Instead, Rebekah and the rest of the team had an “atom bomb” dropped upon them, as John Cook revealed his plans about calling it a day as the Huskers’ head coach.

Soon, the players wanted to convene among themselves to go over what they just learned. And that made John uneasy, not knowing what the athletes wanted to discuss. “I didn’t know what they were meeting about. I was like, ‘Are they gonna start talking about going to the portal, or what?’,” he joked in his retirement presser. Thankfully, all that is now behind, and Dani Busboom Kelly is now waiting for her first season with Allick and the others.

How do you think the Huskers’ new chapter will turn out to be? Will the former Nebraska player prove to be as efficient as her predecessor? Tell us!