Almost five months later, and the dust is barely beginning to settle on John Cook’s departure. Cook officially closed the curtains on his 25-year-long career as head coach on January 29, 2025, in a move no one saw coming. However, Coach Cook and NU’s Athletic Director Troy Dannen had been working behind the scenes for at least a week on his departure. Sports Illustrated reported that Cook told Dannen on Thursday, Jan 23, that, “it’s time to think about the transition.” But as it turns out, you take the man away from volleyball, but you can’t keep volleyball away from the man.

Yes, you read that right! While the 69-year-old did try and step away from the sport entirely, Dannen was the first person to make a request. The athletic director wanted Cook to stay on as an advisor after Dani Busboom Kelly took the reins as the new head coach. “We need that. We need that for our student-athletes, and not just the volleyball team,” said Dannen. While Coach Cook is already focusing on his passion for rodeo, he may return to volleyball in a different capacity.

That’s because John Cook dropped a bombshell in his interview with the Lincoln Journal Star. While talking about his willingness to explore new horizons, Cook admitted to considering doing volleyball commentary. “I’m thinking about it. I really, really enjoy it. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. We just have to work through what their plan is,” the National Championship-winning coach said in the interview.

Coach Cook started his coaching journey at the school level and then as an assistant at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) from 1983 to 1984. Now, putting his decades of experience to enrich people’s volleyball experience would be truly poetic. In fact, the former Nebraska head coach already got a taste of what it feels like to be on TV. The former AVCA Coach of the Year made his debut as a Big Ten Network (BTN) analyst on April 26.

Hurrdat Sports posted footage of the 4x NCAA Championship-winning coach getting ready for the broadcast at the Huskers vs. Kansas Spring Game in Ord, Nebraska. “A little different POV for John Cook. He’s on the Big Ten Network broadcast tonight,” posted Hurrdat. Quite the homecoming, wouldn’t you agree? Yet, there’s a catch regarding John Cook’s future as a volleyball commentator.

John Cook has one condition

One thing to remember about John Cook’s retirement is that the coach didn’t leave the sport because he was bored. It’s quite the opposite. Cook actually signed a five-year contract extension with the Huskers in May 2024. Rather, it was the 69-year-old’s desire to spend time with his family in Wyoming that became the catalyst for the coach’s retirement.

“I got a four-year-old granddaughter now, who asked, ‘When am I going to see you?’… That starts wearing on you a little bit,” Cook confessed on the Volleyball State Podcast. After 25 years of acting as NU’s volleyball head coach and winning nearly every NCAA accolade under the sun, John Cook decided to walk away. Although he continues to be associated with volleyball, he won’t compromise his family time for any venture.

And that’s the catch about his possible future as a commentator. “I think once the schedule comes out, then I can sit down and seriously look at it. If it can work out where I’m not on the road all of the time, that’s what I would be looking for,” Cook added in the Lincoln Journal Star interview. After leaving coaching for his family, Cook refuses to pursue anything that takes away from that.

Meanwhile, John Cook has also made strides in his other passion, the rodeo. In fact, he even organized the first-ever John Cook Team Roping Classic in Nebraska on April 12 and 13, 2025. The Cowboy coach donated those proceeds to the UNL Rodeo Scholarship fund. He then returned with more roping contests for the Huskers’ football team at the inaugural Huskers Games. So it’s safe to say that the retired coach is already a busy man. So only time will tell if he really finds time for commentary in the future.