“Grateful for John (Cook)”: Nebraska Volleyball Star Makes Honest Confession Months After Sudden Coaching Shift

The Big Ten Volleyball Media Days gave fans a glimpse of what they had been waiting for since last December. With the NCAA volleyball season just around the corner, teams have explained what fans can expect in the upcoming season. While defending champion Penn State’s coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley said, “I think our goal is to always win,” Dani Busboom Kelly succeeding John Cook in the offseason was one of the central talking points.

After all, the 69-year-old had renewed his contract with Nebraska in May 2024. His retirement was something no one saw coming, not even his team. “I think it was all of the emotions,” said Bergen Reilly while discussing how they felt. “I mean, we found out within a span of two minutes that the coach was leaving and Danny was coming,” the Huskers volleyball star explained. So what’s changed?

Well, as Rebekah Allick explained, change itself has been tough. “Yeah, it’s definitely been weird. I mean, in a nutshell, like, change is hard, guys. Like, it’s hard,” said the NCAA volleyball star. Then again, she and the rest of the team can now see why John Cook ensured Dani Busboom Kelly would replace him before stepping down. “I am grateful for John (Cook),” Allick said in a clip from Hail Varsity.

“I do miss his sappy jokes sometimes, and just his presence, but it’s just… This was the right thing to do,” admitted the Huskers’ middle blocker. The girls always had faith in the person Coach Cook had handpicked for them. “I believe that he’s going to put us in the best position possible to win, even if he’s not here,” Harper Murray said in February.

However, after months of training under DBK and winning two spring games in April, the squad is now convinced. The former head coach chose Dani Busboom Kelly not only for her success with Louisville but also for her connection with Nebraska. And in these six months, the girls have seen what Cook saw a long time ago.

The team sees John Cook’s decision differently

“I mean this from the bottom of my heart. I don’t think there’s anyone more deserving of this role than Dani Busboom,” Rebekah Allick revealed what she feels about Coach Cook’s successor. While DBK has won the NCAA title with Nebraska both as an athlete and an assistant coach, Allick or her teammate were not around in 2006 or 2015.

“I think the timing made sense, the person made sense, and everything. I mean, down to what she believes, to the practice plan, I just feel like what you embody is exactly what we need for this time,” added Rebekah Allick. And the Huskers’ senior isn’t alone on this train of thought. Even Harper Murray said something similar about John Cook at the Media Days event in Chicago.

“All love to John, but I think maybe we did need a little bit of a change,” the 20-year-old outside hitter told HuskerOnline. Meanwhile, Dani Busboom Kelly is also grateful to get her “dream job” of coaching Nebraska. In fact, it was something baked into their contract at Louisville, as Lincoln Journal Star’s Amie Just revealed in January.

“Dani Busboom Kelly was always the choice for Nebraska volleyball. It was written into her Louisville contract, basically, that she’d be in line — without penalty! — to leave for her ‘undergraduate alma mater,'” the reporter revealed on X. So it’s safe to say that John Cook had thought of everything long before actually retiring.