John Cook Walks Away as the Finest Volleyball Coach

John Cook Walks Away as the Finest Volleyball Coach

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Imagine this. You're a coach. Your job is to win.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
If you do most, nothing else matters, not your character,
not your motives, not your methods. If you don't win again,
nothing else matters, not your character, your motives, or your methods.
So doesn't it equate that happiness, contentment, security, confidence comes
to a coach ultimately and only upon victory.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
To some. To John Cook, it finally came, which made
it easy to walk away. Nearing seventy, financially secure and
ready to chase another passion, Cook, the finest college coach
in his sport, retires now. For most of his career
he sat at the pinnacle of his profession. Nebraska won
four national titles on his watch, with the makings of

(00:40):
several more, just based on the roster on campus. Today,
his sport turned a profit. His annual compensation package was
north of seven figures. They play in volleyball's most envied facility.
Before better than three hundred consecutive sellouts. Six of his
former assistants became Division one head coaches. One of them
captured a national title, several others were under construction. They

(01:02):
began taking measurements for a statue a long time ago
the accomplishments of such a man should be see through,
driven task master with an eye for talent, and inflexible
prisoner of process, addicted to the smell of winning and
another conquest. Never so for John Cook, at least not
until the last third of his storied career. His journey

(01:23):
for so many years, maybe until twenty twenty one, has
been a crucible, a test, a trial. For so long,
Cook found little satisfaction in winning. In his first season,
replacing college volleyball's godfather Terry Pettitt, Cook's Huskers won each
and every match and route to the national title, and
yet it haunted him for the title clinching victory came
over Wisconsin, Cook's first head coaching stop, and a roster

(01:47):
filled with the players he recruited but left, including one
of their very best, the All American Jeris Livingstone. So
betrayed by Cook's departure from Madison, Livingstone snubbed Cook's attempt
at a postgame handshake or embrace. Distraught, the young Husker
coach found no joy in the celebration Cook the person
collided with Cook the competitor. Fast forward a decade, summer

(02:08):
of two thousand and nine, just weeks before the season
was to begin. He woke up one morning and wanted out,
give it up, chuck it. The joy was gone, the
fire was out. In his early fifties, one kid fleeing
for college, another nearly done with high school, standing before
the bathroom mirror. John Cook didn't recognize that guy. It
took unofficial therapy sessions with coach Tom Osborne, then the

(02:29):
athletic director, offering a blueprint for beating back burnout. Stay
in shape, eat well, sleep nine hours every night, schedule
time for selfmeditation, but most of all, every now and then,
take your eye off the goal. Commit to process, commit
to the journey, Commit to the kids and those around you.
So Cook, the mentor was born. Oh, the expectation stayed

(02:50):
up there, but he learned to manage them by sharing stress.
Hired staff members who had their own aspirations, required them
to commit to just three years in Nebraska and then
move on. Step out of this comfort zone. Become a
head coach. I'll bless it, I'll require it. The practice
regimen didn't change. Each minute filled with drills, drills, and
more drills. He replaced rules, though with procedures, began teaching

(03:13):
an individual growth through team success. Suddenly Cook's hard edge
started to dull. He became a part of their lives,
not just the ruthless, detached head coach. He figured all
great ones had to be have You noticed no more
romping about the sidelines during games. Instead, Cook started projecting
calm and confidence while seated on the bench. It rubbed

(03:34):
off on the athletes at the crucial moment of each match.
His steadiness rose above the storm. They followed and kept winning.
He preached balance and then practiced it. The player saw
John Cook, who took up yoga, studied ancient Chinese philosophers,
and at the end went trans Cowboy bought a wyoming
ranch and negotiated the purchase of an expensive pleasure horse

(03:56):
in his last contract. All of it closed the circle
on a remarkable life and career.