John G. Cook (born April 19, 1956) is a retired American

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

coach who served as the head coach of the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

women's college volleyball team from 2000 to 2024. In twenty-five seasons at Nebraska, He led the Cornhuskers to four

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

(2000, 2006, 2015, 2017) and fifteen conference titles. Prior to Nebraska, Cook served as head coach of the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

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 The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is an organization of over 9,000 members, incorporated as a private non-profit corporation, non-profit educational corporation in 1981, as the Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Association. It is cur ...

National Coach of the Year.

Early life

Cook was born and raised in

Chula Vista Chula Vista ( ; , ) is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh-most populous city in Southern California, the 15th-most populous city in the ...

, California. He attended Francis Parker School in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, where he excelled on the basketball team. He went on to play

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

San Diego Toreros The San Diego Toreros are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of San Diego (USD). The Toreros compete in NCAA Division I ( FCS) as a member of the West Coast Conference (WCC). Sports sponsored National champi ...

, but left the team when the program moved up to

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

. Cook graduated from the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

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 San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

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 The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Sc ...

in 1983 and 1984, where he aided the Tritons to a second-place national finish in 1983 and an

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

national championship the next year. He was hired as an assistant coach at

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

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 The National Invitational Volleyball Championship is an NCAA Division I women's college volleyball postseason tournament sponsored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and operated by Triple Crown Sports. Its original incarnatio ...

. 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 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

and

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

. 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 Sarah Lindsey Pavan (born August 16, 1986) is a Canadian former beach volleyball and indoor volleyball player. She was part of the Canada women's national volleyball team at the 2010 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in Japan. With Mel ...

in 2006). Pavan also won the

Honda-Broderick Cup The Honda-Broderick Cup is a sports award for college-level female athletes. The awards are voted on by a national panel of more than 1000 collegiate athletic directors. It was first presented by Tom Broderick, an American owner of a women's sports ...

in 2007 as the Collegiate Female Athlete of the Year. In 2023, Cook and Nebraska hosted

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

at Memorial Stadium in what was termed "Volleyball Day in Nebraska"; the event's official attendance was 92,003, the highest ever for Memorial Stadium and any women's sporting event, except the 1971 Women's World Cup. 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 Chula Vista ( ; , ) is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh-most populous city in Southern California ...

. He and his wife Wendy, a former two-time All-America setter at

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

, are the parents of daughter Lauren and son Taylor. They own a horse named Bud. Lauren was the starting setter for

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

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

Awards and honors

Single-season awards

Division I Central Region Coach of the Year: 1997, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2016, 2023 *

National Coach of the Year: 2000, 2005, 2023 *

Coach of the Year: 1997 (co), 2016, 2017, 2023 *

Coach of the Year: 2001, 2005, 2008, 2010 *''Volleyball Magazine'' Coach of the Year: 2008

Career awards

*USA Volleyball All-Time Great Coach (2008) *

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

References

External links

Nebraska profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, John 1956 births Living people American volleyball coaches Nebraska Cornhuskers women's volleyball coaches UC San Diego Tritons coaches Wisconsin Badgers women's volleyball coaches High school volleyball coaches in the United States San Diego Toreros men's basketball players Francis Parker School (San Diego) alumni Sportspeople from Chula Vista, California