# John Cook (coach)

John G. Cook (born April 19, 1956) is a retired American volleyball coach who served as the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers women's college volleyball team from 2000 to 2024. In twenty-five seasons at Nebraska, He led the Cornhuskers to four national championships (2000, 2006, 2015, 2017) and fifteen conference titles. Prior to Nebraska, Cook served as head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers for seven seasons. He earned his 800th career win in 2022, and ranks twelfth all-time in coaching wins in major college volleyball history. Cook is a three-time AVCA National Coach of the Year.

## Early life

Cook attended Francis Parker School in San Diego, where he excelled on the basketball team. He went on to play college basketball for the San Diego Toreros, but left the team when the program moved up to NCAA Division I. Cook graduated from the University of San Diego in 1979, earning a bachelor's degree in history. He received a master's degree in teaching and coaching effectiveness from San Diego State University in 1991.

## Coaching career
### Early career

After finishing his undergraduate degree, Cook took a job teaching geography at his high school alma mater Francis Parker School, a private institution in San Diego. The job required him to coach three girls' sports — basketball, softball, and volleyball, as well as Parker's junior high boys basketball team – in addition to his teaching duties. According to ESPN journalist Elizabeth Merrill, "he knew little about volleyball, and had to read books to get a grasp on the basics." Cook proved a quick learner; he had a 162–18 record in six seasons as Parker's volleyball coach, which included a ninety-match winning streak and two state championships.
While still coaching at Parker, Cook served as the head assistant coach at UC San Diego in 1983 and 1984, where he aided the Tritons to a second-place national finish in 1983 and an NCAA Division III national championship the next year. He was hired as an assistant coach at Nebraska in 1989.

### Wisconsin

Cook was hired as Wisconsin's fifth full-time head coach in 1992, and three years later won the program's second National Invitational Volleyball Championship. He was named Big Ten Co-Coach of the Year and AVCA District 2 Coach of the Year after leading the Badgers to a share of the 1997 Big Ten title and school-record 30–3 record. The Badgers advanced to a postseason tournament in each of Cook's final six years at the school, including five NCAA Division I tournament appearances. Cook coached four All-Americans, nine AVCA All-District award winners, and eleven All-Big Ten honorees during his tenure at UW. Cook accepted an assistant coaching position at Nebraska following the 1998 season, with the understanding he would succeed the retiring Terry Pettit in 2000. Cook departed Wisconsin as the school's all-time wins leader, with a record of 161–73 across seven seasons.

### Nebraska

Cook succeeded Terry Pettit as the head coach at Nebraska in 2000; NU went 34–0 and won its second national championship in Cook's first season. Over the following twenty-three seasons he has guided the Huskers to three more national titles (2006, 2015, 2017) and seven other national semifinal appearances. Cook has made the NCAA tournament in each of his years at Nebraska, continuing the Cornhuskers' streak of appearing in every NCAA tournament since 1982. Cook was named AVCA Division I National Coach of the Year in 2000, 2005, and 2023 and has won conference coach of the year six times across Nebraska's participation in the Big 12 and Big Ten. He was awarded the USA Volleyball All-Time Great Coach Award in 2008 and was inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame in 2017.
Cook has coached three AVCA National Players of the Year at NU – (Greichaly Cepero in 2000, Christina Houghtelling in 2005 and Sarah Pavan in 2006). Pavan also won the Honda-Broderick Cup in 2007 as the Collegiate Female Athlete of the Year. In 2023, Cook and Nebraska hosted Omaha at Memorial Stadium in what was termed "Volleyball Day in Nebraska"; the event's official attendance was 92,003, the highest ever both for Memorial Stadium and any women's sporting event.
On January 29, 2025, Cook announced his retirement; with Dani Busboom Kelly, a Nebraska native and former player and assistant coach under Cook, taking over for the 2025 season.

## Personal life

Cook is the great-grandson of Hazel Goes Cook, an early settler of Chula Vista, California. He and his wife Wendy, a former two-time All-America setter at San Diego State, are the parents of daughter Lauren and son Taylor. They own a horse named Bud. Lauren was the starting setter for UCLA during her freshman season in 2009, and garnered National Freshman of the Year honors before transferring to Nebraska and finishing her college career there.

## Head coaching record

Statistics overview :
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| Wisconsin Badgers (Big Ten Conference) (1992–1998) ||||||
| 1992 | Wisconsin | 14–17 | 9–11 | 7th | |
| 1993 | Wisconsin | 19–13 | 11–9 | 5th | NCAA Division I second round |
| 1994 | Wisconsin | 21–12 | 11–9 | 5th | NCAA Division I first round |
| 1995 | Wisconsin | 22–15 | 9–11 | 7th | |
| 1996 | Wisconsin | 25–8 | 13–7 | 5th | NCAA Division I Regional Semifinal |
| 1997 | Wisconsin | 30–3 | 19–1 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Regional Final |
| 1998 | Wisconsin | 30–5 | 17–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Regional Final |
| Wisconsin: | Wisconsin: | 161–73 (.688) | 89–51 (.636) | | |
| Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big 12 Conference) (2000–2010) ||||||
| 2000 | Nebraska | 34–0 | 20–0 | 1st | NCAA Division I Champion |
| 2001 | Nebraska | 31–2 | 20–0 | 1st | NCAA Division I Semifinal |
| 2002 | Nebraska | 31–2 | 20–0 | 1st | NCAA Division I Regional Final |
| 2003 | Nebraska | 28–5 | 17–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Regional Semifinal |
| 2004 | Nebraska | 30–2 | 20–0 | 1st | NCAA Division I Regional Final |
| 2005 | Nebraska | 33–2 | 19–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Runner-up |
| 2006 | Nebraska | 33–1 | 19–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Champion |
| 2007 | Nebraska | 30–2 | 19–1 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Regional Final |
| 2008 | Nebraska | 31–3 | 18–2 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Semifinal |
| 2009 | Nebraska | 26–7 | 16–4 | 3rd | NCAA Division I Regional Final |
| 2010 | Nebraska | 29–3 | 19–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Regional Semifinal |
| Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big Ten Conference) (2011–Present) ||||||
| 2011 | Nebraska | 25–5 | 17–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I second round |
| 2012 | Nebraska | 26–7 | 15–5 | T–2nd | NCAA Division I Regional Final |
| 2013 | Nebraska | 26–7 | 16–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Regional Final |
| 2014 | Nebraska | 23–10 | 14–6 | 4th | NCAA Division I Regional Final |
| 2015 | Nebraska | 32–4 | 17–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Champion |
| 2016 | Nebraska | 31–3 | 18–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I Semifinal |
| 2017 | Nebraska | 32–4 | 19–1 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Champion |
| 2018 | Nebraska | 29–7 | 15–5 | T–3rd | NCAA Division I Runner-up |
| 2019 | Nebraska | 28–5 | 17–3 | T–2nd | NCAA Division I Regional Final |
| 2020 | Nebraska | 16–3 | 14–2 | 3rd | NCAA Division I Regional Final |
| 2021 | Nebraska | 26–8 | 15–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Runner-up |
| 2022 | Nebraska | 26–6 | 16–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Regional Semifinal |
| 2023 | Nebraska | 33–2 | 19–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Runner-up |
| 2024 | Nebraska | 33–3 | 19–1 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Semifinal |
| Nebraska: | Nebraska: | 722–103 (.875) | 438–57 (.885) | | |
| Total: | Total: | 883–176 (.834) | | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||

## Awards and honors
### Single-season awards

* AVCA Division I Central Region Coach of the Year: 1997, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2016, 2023
* AVCA National Coach of the Year: 2000, 2005, 2023
* Big Ten Coach of the Year: 1997 (co), 2016, 2017, 2023
* Big 12 Coach of the Year: 2001, 2005, 2008, 2010
* Volleyball Magazine Coach of the Year: 2008

### Career awards

* USA Volleyball All-Time Great Coach (2008)
* AVCA Hall of Fame (2017)

### Career achievements

* 4 national championships
* 8 national finals
* 12 national semifinals
* 14 conference championships
* 23 top-ten finishes
* 66 All-Americans coached