Former Nebraska Volleyball coach John Cook opens up on why coaching daughter Lauren at program was a career highlight

Legendary former head coach of Nebraska Volleyball, John Cook, recently shared his thoughts on the highlight of his coaching career, which was guiding his daughter, Lauren Cook, to the All-American honours. The AVCA Hall of Famer retired from the Nebraska Volleyball program after 25 years in January 2025.

Under his tutelage, the Nebraska Volleyball team clinched four National Championships, made 8 NCAA Finals, 12 NCAA Semifinals and 24 NCAA Regional appearances. John Cook clinched 883 career wins throughout his career and took the fifth spot in NCAA history as the winningest coach.

The Nebraska program won 14 Conference Titles and produced 72 AVCA All-Americans, including his daughter Lauren Cook. His daughter played as a setter and earned multiple accolades throughout her collegiate career with the Nebraska Volleyball team.

Through the official Instagram post of Hail Varsity, John Cook reflected on one of his coaching career highlights, which was when his daughter received the All-American honours. The former head coach further shared his views on Lauren taking the lead in managing their personal and professional dynamics on the court.

"One of the highlights of my coaching career, which I haven't talked a lot about, was when my daughter Lauren [Cook] made All-American. It's an indescribable feeling. No, cause, she set the ground rules, she handled it great."

He continued:

"She told me this is how we're doing it, she told the team, this is how we're doing it and it was awesome. It worked out awesome, it was a highlight cause when she was in high school, I didn't know anything. She didn't listen to a word I said."

In 2012, Lauren Cook was named to the AVCA First-team All-American, the AVCA First-Team All-Mideast Region, First-Team All-Big Ten and NCAA Omaha Regional All-Tournament Team.

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John Cook reflects on evolving as a coach through his career with the Nebraska Volleyball team

John Cook at Volleyball Day in Nebraska - Source: Getty

Three-time AVCA National Coach of the Year, John Cook, shared his thoughts on evolving during his prestigious coaching career. In an interview with Ana Bellinghausen of Hail Varsity, he reflected on his transformation with the Nebraska Volleyball program.

"The biggest thing the one word to capture all this is being adaptable and if I look at my last 25 years here, I've had to learn how to adapt and adjust and so the best example that everybody relates to is I do TikToks okay... Adapting to each generation as they've come through," he shared. [7:18 onwards]

With the Nebraska program, John Cook has also earned six AVCA Region Coach of the Year Awards.