Reevaluation John Cook As Head Coach

[BGRed]

Cook is on the short list for the next US volleyball national coach. By everyone.

Unfortunately for us and ten other Big Ten teams, the most recent national team coach is now at Minnesota. I sense the Gophers are ready to make a step up; and, they are already a solid elite 8 team.

 

[Husker Mort]

I seem to recall Jordan Larsen playing on the US Women's Olympic team this past summer...that seems like a pretty good indicator of the talent that Cook can bring in.

We had a freshman (hagerty) seeing a lot of playing time and having an important role this season.

As was mentioned earlier in the thread - we lost to the #5 overall seed at what is considered our home court. That was certainly disappointing. But, compare to #7 UCLA (and defending champ) losing to an unseeded Michigan State team on their campus home floor; and, #2 overall seed Stanford losing to unseeded Michigan in Berkley.

Are there signs of a pattern of underachieving? Perhaps... or, it could just be coincidentally running into the wrong team at the wrong time.

I still haven't seen a suggestion for a coach that would be better than Cook?

...and you won't find one from me, since I don't think that he should be replaced.

You bring up Jordan Larsen as a huge get. While she was an obviously fantastic player, she could not take over a game like Pavan in both the blocking and kill departments. She was a highly valuable role player that was excellent in defense and could occasionally attack, most similar to Mancuso on this year's squad (although obviously better). However, she was not capable of simply taking over a match.

If you watch Penn State play, they have two athletes capable of doing what I describe. Deja McClendon and Ariel Scott do so repeatedly and Courtney seems to be developing into an athlete capable of it as well.

That Larsen was from Hooper doesn't seem to add to Cook's ability to "attract" top talent, but rather lends to his reputation to develop it.

 

[CrnhskrBob]

Not the right man? Lazy? Let's get over this, ok? We can't be the only team with talent, in this great nation. This is a highly, competitive sport. Unless you have the best talent, you will not win it all.

Again, I am as disappointed as the rest of you, but John Cook is a great coach. Get over it, you who want him gone! Besides, who in the heck are you going to replace him with? Really?

Absolutely! :bow: :wave: :koolaid: opcorn:

I didn't realize we had such good coach evaluators on the board.

 

[redwinghusker]

Only in Nebraska is there a 2 page post on whether the v-ball coach should be let go. :facepalm: John Cook is a very good coach. If people are worried about running off Pelini after 9 win seasons and no championships, then running off Cook after multiple conference and national championships is insane. It would be an injustice to him and you'd NEVER get another quality coach to come here for years. I think that most of us who follow the v-ball program closely believe the selection committee was VERY gracious in giving NU a #4 seed. Although the loss to Oregon was disappointing, it was not that surprising considering the way NU stumbled the last 6 weeks of the regular season.

 

[Porkchopexpress]

Only in Nebraska is there a 2 page post on whether the v-ball coach should be let go. :facepalm: John Cook is a very good coach. If people are worried about running off Pelini after 9 win seasons and no championships, then running off Cook after multiple conference and national championships is insane. It would be an injustice to him and you'd NEVER get another quality coach to come here for years. I think that most of us who follow the v-ball program closely believe the selection committee was VERY gracious in giving NU a #4 seed. Although the loss to Oregon was disappointing, it was not that surprising considering the way NU stumbled the last 6 weeks of the regular season.

Only one person that I can tell in this thread has brought up the "f" word when it comes to Cook. He'll coach at NU as long as he wants to.

 

[Husker Eponymous]

I agree with those that said the loss was really disappointing (in that we got LESS competitive as the game went on).

I also agree with those that have cited a lack of game-changing talent. Sarah Pavan graduated in 2007 and we haven't been able to replace her. If you compare NUs roster to PSUs you see a decided athletic advantage for the team in blue. But when NU is able to play as a harmonious team it is a thing of beauty.

I hope that Cook has the next Pavan in the pipeline and that his recruiting will more consistently find players capable of taking over games, but a loss in the Elite Eight is not sufficient grounds for dismissal.

:2cents:

Sarah Pavan, lol. Evidently you forgot the basket cases the team became that year.

 

[Husker Eponymous]

I was wondering if anyone would start to question Cook. Fact is, he had a trip to the final four served on a silver platter and failed to meet expectations. Yes, when you are a top 4 seed the final four is the expectation. NU volleyball hasn't been to the final 4 since 2008, and I believe the commentators during the match said the 2012 senior class is the first senior class since the early 90's to never reach a final 4. That's not a positive sign for the program. Obviously Cook isn't getting fired, but he's built up the lofty expectations, and I'm guessing not making a final four once over the past four seasons is not what the program's expectations are.

Its not only the underachievement, its the off season ugliness that follows, between former players and transfers blasting what went on in the locker room, and the Lauren Cook incident, its no wonder the team ends up basket cases at the end of the year.

 

[Husker Eponymous]

I seem to recall Jordan Larsen playing on the US Women's Olympic team this past summer...that seems like a pretty good indicator of the talent that Cook can bring in.

We had a freshman (hagerty) seeing a lot of playing time and having an important role this season.

As was mentioned earlier in the thread - we lost to the #5 overall seed at what is considered our home court. That was certainly disappointing. But, compare to #7 UCLA (and defending champ) losing to an unseeded Michigan State team on their campus home floor; and, #2 overall seed Stanford losing to unseeded Michigan in Berkley.

Are there signs of a pattern of underachieving? Perhaps... or, it could just be coincidentally running into the wrong team at the wrong time.

I still haven't seen a suggestion for a coach that would be better than Cook?

Christy Johnson, Iowa State. Former Husker, doing more with less, and beat Cook.

 

[Husker Eponymous]

Fromuda seems to want a replacement.

And, I do think Larsen has played since Pavan (although just barely)...Mort specifically mentioned Pavan in his earlier comment. There have been two other first team All-American's after Larsen. He has recruited two NATIONAL players of the year. Yet, some say he can't bring in talent.

I don't disagree with the disappointment and the desire to be back in the final four.

I just think a coach with TEN conference championships and TWO national championships in a THIRTEEN year span deserves a lot more credit than he's been given on this thread.



Good grief people....

I'm not hammering for a replacement, what I'm saying is keep you eyeballs open to what is going on. Volleyball moves to the Devaney next year: More fans, more attention, AND less experience returning.

 

[Husker Eponymous]

While the Final 4 was certainly the goal, the great 8 is nothing to be ashamed of either. The football team would kill to be as consistent as the volleyball squad.

If the football team had Alabama's recruits every year, and failed to finish in the Top 10, nobody would be "killing" over that consistancy.

 

[Husker Eponymous]

No doubt.

1. Cook recruits top talent every year
2. Cook produces a top 10 team every year.
3. Cook wins Championships. National ones.

So he hasn't been in the final 4 in a couple years......therefore we need to reevaluate a premiere volleyball program in the nation that is NOT in a downfall by any measure calculated by any sane individual?

Some joker on the radio recently suggested he doesn't go after black players, essentially inferring he's got some sort of racially motivated recruiting practices. Good Lord.

Cook is on the short list for the next US volleyball national coach. By everyone.

And now he might not be good enough for Nebraska? Some of you are nuts.

Thats the problem: Top talent on the team, and recently not Top finishes.

 

[carrolltonsker]

Everyone is assuming that we have the top talent every year. I don't agree. I think we have some very good players, but we don't have the best of the best. Take Oregon, for example. In our match with them, Bergsma (I think that was her name) had something like 18-19 straight successful kills in the match. We don't have anyone on the team that can come close to that. We are good and we are well coached, but we are not the best team in NCAA volleyball.

 

[Huskers57]

as some others have mentioned, NU was really lucky to have the committee being so generous in the seeding...I was surprised we were seeded as high as we were...but all in all, the program is on solid foundation and one needs to realize only ONE team can win it all each year...If we're consistently in the hunt as we are, I'm content because we'll win it all every once in a while as long as we're consistently in the hunt. We're not a passerby in the night, we're consistently near the top if not at the top.