Nebraska Cornhuskers women's volleyball

Cook said Nebraska players face intense public pressure and that after losses he felt he had let down the whole state.

“When we lost, I felt like I let the whole state of Nebraska down. And that's how it feels here. But it's special”

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Cook recalled that around 2015 he was urged to become more animated on the sideline, but after consecutive losses his captain told him to sit down.

“Coaches started getting up in volleyball. It became a thing. And so everybody told me, like, you need to get up and run around on the sideline”

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Cook said his coaching philosophy is that the longer he coached the less he knew, requiring constant learning because the game keeps changing.

“I have a saying, the longer I coach, the less I know. And I kept learning so much later in my career because everything changes all the time”

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Cook said the most common message coaches try to get players to say in between-point huddles is to focus on winning the next point.

“I know the most common thing we try to get them to say is, hey, next point, let's win the next point”

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!: A surprise snow day for the White House press corps (Sep 26, 2026) · Listen from 22:55

Gondelman said he overheard passengers on his flight to Omaha excitedly discussing the previous night's Nebraska volleyball match.

“people were talking about last night's match, and I've never heard volleyball in an airplane before”

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!: A surprise snow day for the White House press corps (Sep 26, 2026) · Listen from 25:07