While it’s not uncommon to see players and assistant coaches follow suit once an established coach departs, things were different with NU, with assistant coaches Jaylen Reyes and Kelly (Hunter) Natter deciding to stick on. Did John Cook’s sudden retirement come as a shock? Absolutely. Yet, the players and the staff trusted in the successor the four-time NCAA title winner chose. And now that the former Cardinals head coach is reshaping the training structure, you can’t help but ask: how do the players feel about it?

“That’s really important to me that every player is interacting with every coach somewhat,” Dani Busboom Kelly told the media. That means every coach is working on training players in different positions, such as outside hitters or liberos, while also being part of the whole training program. It also included a positional reshuffle where Reyes and Natter were now deployed to work with the liberos and defensive players, and pin hitters respectively. So what does training look like now? Setter Bergen Reilly answered.

“Dani’s the full-time setter coach, so Kelly (Natter) will still work with us… but Dani’s like the main coach, and so that’s been fun. Kelly’s still there, and she knows how Dani wants it done. But again, just kind of change. And change can be scary, but it’s been pretty exciting so far,” the Huskers star said during a press conference. Yet, the experimental nature means that not everyone feels the same.

Reilly’s teammate Harper Murray has needed some adjustment. “Sometimes, like, it’s a little weird hearing Kelly, like, in my ear, like, telling me to change things, because she’s never been with me as much,” explained Murray. However, it hasn’t been too hard for the Murray to make that adjustment. After all, she and the players aren’t the only ones having to make them.

“I know on the coaches’ side of things, like, it’s hard for them, too. Jaylen (Reyes) isn’t with the middles as much anymore. He was with them all the time last year…” added the 20-year-old. Yet, the keyword here is adjustment. While Dani Busboom Kelly is utilizing what she learned while coaching in Louisville, she’s not trying to uproot Coach Cook’s system.

Dani Busboom Kelly is relying on collaboration

They say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and DBK’s approach has followed this exact philosophy. After all, John Cook refined his system over 25 years, and Kelly herself learned the ropes from the former head coach. So, instead of making sweeping changes, Coach Busboom Kelly has simply added to the existing one. “It wasn’t (about) reinventing the wheel here,” said the 39-year-old.

“I believe it comes from what John was doing,” added Dani Busboom Kelly, before saying that she has spent her time making that system her own. And maybe that’s why stars like Harper Murray and Bergen Reilly have found change to be exciting. Even when they haven’t, it hasn’t been uncomfortable, because the blueprint of Kelly’s plans comes from John Cook.

Under John Cook, assistant coaches Jaylen Reyes, Kelly (Hunter) Natter, and Brennan Hagar mentored the Huskers in slightly different ways. As Harper Murray mentioned, someone like Reyes spent most of his time coaching middle blockers last year. Under Danu Busboom Kelly, the assistant coach has started focusing on the hitters.

“He can really train any position. So he’s training the outside hitters; it looks like he’s having fun doing that,” revealed the head coach, adding that this is the first time Reyes is doing so at Nebraska. Yet, that’s not all. The 39-year-old’s collaborative approach means Reyes is participating in the overall team training as well.

“When we talk about position responsibilities… it’s more of a point person. Maybe 10 to 15 minutes in practice a day, you’re really working with just one coach. But other than that, everybody’s involved with everybody,” explained the Huskers’ head coach. Similarly, Kelly Natter oversaw the setters last season, but now works as the liberos’ and defensive specialists’ point person.

How have these changes impacted Huskers as a team? Well, fans won’t have to wait long as the Nebraska Huskers will take on Kansas this weekend, and then play the much-anticipated spring game on May 3rd.