Dani Busboom Kelly made a name for herself after elevating the Louisville Cardinals. Under Kelly’s leadership, the Cardinals ascended from conference title contenders to national title contenders. In fact, in her eight-year tenure with the Cardinals, Coach Kelly took them to the final-four, five times. Another thing has become just as intertwined with her identity as her legacy at Louisville. Yet, it’s not an accolade.

So what is it? The Volleyball State’s Lincoln Arneal explained while in conversation with Coach Kelly. While discussing DBK’s transition from Louisville to Nebraska, Arneal asked if Huskers fans could expect the new head coach to continue her “very strong jacket game,” for the Huskers. And that’s when Kelly made not one, but two surprising revelations.

Dani Busboom Kelly revealed how Adidas was connected to her Gucci Blazer. “That was actually given to me by Adidas. It was the surprise of that first Final Four, maybe the second one in Omaha…” revealed Coach Kelly. However, recounting that memory prompted Kelly to drop a subtle hint for the sneaker giant. “I have not gotten another one… Adidas, I’m always open to those types of gifts,” joked Coach Kelly.

Yet, in an even more surprising confession, the new Husker’s boss regretted starting the trend in the first place. “I wish I would have never started that, and I could just wear a quarter zip,” said Kelly. But there was good news for the Huskers fans. “I’ll probably keep up the Blazer game,” DBK told Lincoln Arneal and his co-host. That begs the question: Why did she start?

Well, Kelly gave fans the origin story of her ‘big’ game day attire back in 2023. “It kind of became a thing with Anna Stevenson, who’s one of our former players. She, just really, was interested in what I was wearing every game. So then it became like a joke with our team, and Blazers became a thing,” revealed the coach. So since then, the volleyball coach has built quite the Blazer collection. Yet, adding more to her collection will be the least of DBK’s worries in Nebraska.

A challenging decision looms over Dani Buboom Kelly

Besides discussing transferring her now-iconic wardrobe choices to Nebraska, DBK spoke about getting to know the Huskers. While Kelly took her time to build Louisville’s NCAA contender team, the Huskers are a completely different species. Here, the 39-year-old inherited her former mentor John Cook’s team, and Kelly has nothing but praise for them.

“They’re really hungry, and the winning is like at the top of their brain. I think they’re on a mission you after the last two years, which is to change the outcome,” said Dani Busboom Kelly. In fact, the volleyball coach has spent more time getting to know the players than changing anything about how the Huskers work. And maybe that’s why she has observed the hunger within the team.

“The way they train, the way they’re communicating with each other, watching film,” has signaled Kelly about just how well-oiled Cook’s methodology was before she took over. And so now the veteran coach’s toughest decision is setting a starting lineup. “I’m going to have some really tough decisions when it comes to actually writing a lineup. But hopefully they all understand,” she added.